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Land
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New Advance in Landscape Patterns in Urban–Rural Interfaces
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New Advance in Landscape Patterns in Urban–Rural Interfaces

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 4538

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Miguel Ángel Mejías Vera

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Guest Editor
Department: Geografía e Historia, Universidad de la Laguna, San Cristobal de La Laguna, Spain
Interests: landscape; urban sprawl; urban planning
Prof. Dr. Alessandra Battisti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Planning, Design, and Technology of Architecture, Sapienza, University of Rome, Via Flaminia 72, 00196 Rome, Italy
Interests: urban land; sustainable development dimensions and urban agglomeration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The debate on the urban–rural interface is complex, multi-scale and multidisciplinary: complex, insofar as it encompasses a historical dialectic of relationship between settlements and their immediate agrarian surroundings, dating back to the origins of civilisation; multi-scale, because there are different patterns depending on size and organisational and territorial complexities; and multi-disciplinary because it is analysed from different approaches and disciplines.

The urban–rural interface landscape is a finite, fuzzy-edged, complex, fragmented and heterogeneous space, distributed between the compact city boundary and the natural edges or limits. It is the territory with the greatest spatial dynamics, where the processes of change are materialised; it is the space that supports the tension between a growing and expansive cell that represents the urban and its dispersion, against the retaining wall of the natural space, generally with some degree of protection. This double tension at both edges can be the spatial framework for reflection in this Special Issue.

In the context of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the current tension in the geopolitical framework, and the alarming growth of climatic phenomena linked to global climate change, it is demonstrated that this interface is strategic for local functioning in a restricted global framework, a source of food supply, a space for leisure and recreation, and a refuge for public health, among others. At the same time, the local is rediscovered, the importance of the surrounding landscape is understood, and the rural natural environment is seen as a space of well-being, security and proximity to urban centres. Can this rediscovery affect the traditional function of this interface, hosting new activities and functions linked to the new information age? Can spatial, environmental, social, cultural and economic changes occur in these interface areas that destroy landscape structures, can we identify risks and policy strategies for their mitigation or regulation, and are there already models of spatial and landscape planning and intervention that address these issues?

It is essential to provide scientific knowledge, In different territorial areas and on a global scale, of the causes and solutions to the changes that are occurring on a local scale, through new methodologies and multidisciplinary approaches, but which are supported by advances in the field of geographic information technology, spatial thinking and its graphic and cartographic representation.

The objectives of this Special Issue focus on the following:

  • Detecting patterns of landscape problems at the urban–rural interface.
  • The proposal of new methodologies to analyse and sequence patterns of landscape change at the urban–rural interface.
  • To present new proposals and strategies on territorial and landscape planning at the urban–rural interface.
  • To value landscape studies that focus on the urban–rural interface of island spaces.

Dr. Miguel Ángel Mejías Vera
Prof. Dr. Alessandra Battisti
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 2600 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.

Keywords

  • rural–urban interface
  • landscape
  • regional resilience
  • landscape fragmentation
  • urban agriculture
  • landscape degradation
  • landscape ecology
  • landscape management

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 20447 KiB  
Article
Identification of Urban Clusters Based on Multisource Data—An Example of Three Major Urban Agglomerations in China
by Gaoyuan Wang, Yixuan Wang, Yangli Li and Tian Chen
Land 2023, 12(5), 1058; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12051058 - 12 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1303
Abstract
Accurately identifying the boundary of urban clusters is a crucial aspect of studying the development of urban agglomerations. This process is essential for comprehending and optimizing smart and compact urban development. Existing studies often rely on a single category of data, which can [...] Read more.
Accurately identifying the boundary of urban clusters is a crucial aspect of studying the development of urban agglomerations. This process is essential for comprehending and optimizing smart and compact urban development. Existing studies often rely on a single category of data, which can result in coarse identification boundaries, insufficient detail accuracy, and slight discrepancies between the coverage and the actual conditions. To accurately identify the extent of urban clusters, this study proposes and compares the results of three methods for identifying dense urban areas of three major agglomerations in China: Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. The study then integrates the results of these methods to obtain a more effective identification approach. The social economic method involved extracting a density threshold based on the fused nuclear density of socio-economic vitality data, including population, GDP, and POI, while the remote sensing method evaluated feature indices based on remote sensing images, including the density index, continuity index, gradient index, and development index. The traffic network method utilizes land transportation networks and travelling speeds to identify the minimum cost path and delineate the boundary by 20–30 min isochronous circles. The results obtained from the three methods were combined, and hotspots were identified using GIS overlay analysis and spatial autocorrelation analysis. This method integrates the multi-layered information from the previous three methods, which more comprehensively reflects the characteristics and morphology of urban clusters. Finally, the accuracy of each identification result is verified and compared. The results reveal that the average overall accuracy (OA) of the three areas delineated by the first three methods are 57.49%, 30.88%, and 33.74%, respectively. Furthermore, the average Kappa coefficients of these areas are 0.4795, 0.2609, and 0.2770, respectively. After performing data fusion, the resulting average overall accuracy (OA) was 85.34%, and the average Kappa coefficient was 0.7394. These findings suggest that the data fusion method can effectively delineate dense urban areas with greater accuracy than the previous three methods. Additionally, this method can accurately reflect the scope of urban clusters by depicting their overall boundary contour and the distribution of internal details in a more scientific manner. The study proposes a feasible method and path for the identification of urban clusters. It can serve as a starting point for formulating spatial planning policies for urban agglomerations, aiding in precise and scientific control of boundary growth. This can promote the rational allocation of resources and optimization of spatial structure by providing a reliable reference for the optimization of urban agglomeration space and the development of regional spatial policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advance in Landscape Patterns in Urban–Rural Interfaces)
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18 pages, 9198 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Food Supply by Peri-Urban Diversified Farms of the Agri-Food Region of Central Córdoba, Argentina
by María Victoria Marinelli, Evangelina Beatriz Argüello Caro, Irene Petrosillo, Franca Giannini Kurina, Beatriz Liliana Giobellina, Carlos Marcelo Scavuzzo and Donatella Valente
Land 2023, 12(1), 101; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010101 - 28 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2310
Abstract
Peri-urban vegetable cropping areas, such as horticultural farms, provide several ecosystem services, such as the provision of fresh food. However, food supply must be estimated on the basis of the current and potential demand of future populations, taking into account the landscape carrying [...] Read more.
Peri-urban vegetable cropping areas, such as horticultural farms, provide several ecosystem services, such as the provision of fresh food. However, food supply must be estimated on the basis of the current and potential demand of future populations, taking into account the landscape carrying capacity towards sustainable agricultural planning. From this perspective, the study aimed at estimating the resilience of the “Agri-food Region of Central Córdoba” (ARCC) and its role in supporting the provisioning of ecosystem services, such as proximal services, provided by the diversified agricultural landscape in the peri-urban area of Córdoba (Argentina). A direct field survey has been carried out to collect data on the main species and types of crops, the annual productivity, and the area covered by each species and type of horticultural crops. The data have been statistically elaborated to test the spatial and temporal variability of productivity as well as the spatial autocorrelation. In relation to crop diversification, a total of 30 vegetable species have been recorded in the diversified farms under study, with 15 species identified as the most frequent crops as on the basis of the area dedicated to each vegetable species sampled in the farms (in %). The productivity of 30 species has been integrated into a single value of “vegetable crop productivity mean” (kg/m2), proposed and measured in this study, which has been 3.46 kg/m2. It can be a useful monitoring indicator in diversified production contexts. The estimated food supply (ton/year) of vegetable crops for the 170 farmlands has been 72,881 ton/year. An accurate measurement of the biomass harvested on a given surface area can be useful to assign productivity data to the pixel of each land use/cover class, providing accurate input data for remotely sensed-based models supporting decision-making on food provision in peri-urban systems. In this sense, the paper proposes a methodological framework that can be useful worldwide when up-to-date official productivity data are not available, but they are a necessary basis for planning, decision-making, and the implementation of public policies. Thus, diversity in farming systems can combine high ecological and socio-economic benefits, in terms of ecosystem service provision and sustainable food production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advance in Landscape Patterns in Urban–Rural Interfaces)
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