Dear Colleagues,

Metropolitan fringe areas tend to have complex patterns of land use and social spaces. In most developing countries, metropolitan areas are the pillars on which national economic growth is built. Increasing numbers of people migrate to these metropolitan areas, which has led to them playing a more important role economically and to the creation of new social spaces. Both central and local governments have introduced special policies to promote land development and utilization in metropolitan areas, which has served to reinforce the centrality of metropolitan areas. As metropolitan areas expand, their internal spatial structure also evolves. For example, high-tech enterprises are more likely to move to the fringe areas of metropolises, thereby boosting their prosperity (e.g., the phenomena of so-called technoburbs and edge city). However, on a less positive note, lenient environmental regulations have encouraged more polluters to move to metropolitan fringe areas, which has had the effect of exacerbating the current ecological, economic, and social crisis. Furthermore, in such cities, there has been an increasing tendency for the central area to strengthen its control over the fringe areas, making the fringe areas very dependent on the central area, which has a direct effect on land development and the socio-spatial structure of the metropolitan fringe areas.

It is therefore essential to try to maintain and promote the sustainable development and utilization of land in metropolitan fringe areas from a social equity perspective. Consequently, this Special Issue primarily focuses on land development and socio-spatial differentiation in metropolitan fringe areas. The foci of the proposed issue will include but not be limited to the following:

• Evolution of land development in metropolitan fringe areas;
• Assessment of sustainability of land use in metropolitan fringe areas;
• The social-spatial structure of metropolitan fringe areas;
• The social consequences of land development in metropolitan fringe areas;
• Equitable land development in metropolitan fringe areas;
• Policies to promote sustainable land use and social development in metropolitan fringe areas;
• The association between land use planning and transport development;
• The effects of infrastructure investment, urban regeneration, and displacement on socio-spatial inequalities;
• The development of streets, the built environment, public spaces, and urban design;
• Sustainable city and neighborhood development in metropolitan fringe areas;
• Architecture, land use, and town/country planning in metropolitan fringe areas.

Full manuscripts should be submitted before the proposed deadline of 31 July 2023. Accepted papers will be published in the journal (as soon as they are accepted) and will be listed on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles, as well as shorter pieces, are all welcome.

Dr. Hongsheng Chen
Dr. Yang Xiao
Dr. Mengqiu Cao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.