Designing a Meta-Synthesis Model of Affecting Drivers of Land Use Changes by Systematic Review of Previous Studies

Abstract

The main goal of this study is to identify the most important factors affecting land use change based on previous literature. The method used is qualitative and a type of meta-study known as meta-synthesis. We review the purpose of each study, data collection methods and research design/questions for this task. We perform a systematic search based on keywords used in articles on land use change and transformation of land in the following databases: Scopus, Springer, and Science Direct for articles from 1976 to 2015. After reviewing 63 articles out of 286 articles, we identified 5 dimensions and 28 factors as the most important indicators of land use change in various domestic and foreign studies. The results of this study show that the most important dimensions of land use change are economic, demographic and climate. The most important drivers are urban population, average rainfall, and changes in the price of agricultural land.