Land Consolidation Process Research Articles

Does land consolidation promote livestock production and combat rural depopulation in northern Spain?

AbstractThis paper evaluates the effect on livestock production and rural population of the land consolidation (LC) processes that occurred over recent decades in Asturias, an autonomous region located in north‐west Spain. We use a novel Difference‐in‐Difference (DiD) model which allows for multiple LCs at different points in time and for spatial spill‐overs. As many parishes have been involved in two or more LC processes, we test whether we can simplify our analysis using a specification for these parishes that accumulates the effect of consecutive, and often distant, LC processes. We find that this simplification can be implemented when we analyse the effect of the LC processes on parishes' livestock production, but not when we examine their effects on parish population. We find that parish livestock production increases on average by about 3% once we take into account spatial effects, and that LC processes have especially attenuated the decline in the number of farms in (coastal) parishes where dairy farms predominate. We do not find strong evidence regarding the effectiveness of LC processes in redressing rural depopulation, except in some of the parishes located in western Asturias.

A comprehensive model for the implementation of agricultural land levelling and consolidation plan in the Abu Fazel region of Ahvaz.

It has been shown that land fragmentation can negatively impact the efficiency of farming. Therefore, experts recommend land consolidation process, as a logical and workable solution to solve the problems and complications caused by land fragmentation. Land levelling and consolidation is a process of land reform that changes the construction of agricultural lands which leads to rural development through reforming farm management. However, a single plan cannot be applied to different regions, even though they might be in the same country. Hence, it is vital to investigate multiple factors in a certain region to devise the perfect consolidation plan. The present study, which is a survey-exploratory research, is conducted to provide a comprehensive model to implement the plan for levelling and consolidation of agricultural lands in the Abu Fazel region of Ahvaz, Iran. This research is an applied field research which uses both library and field methods to collect the required data. The study population is in Abu Fazel in the northeast of Ahvaz in Zargan region. The results of the study show that cultural, social, economic, policy-making, educational, agricultural and managerial factors have an effect on the participation of farmers in the levelling and consolidation of agricultural lands in the study area (p≥0.01). Also, there is a strong positive relationship between these factors and the farmers' participation in levelling and consolidation of agricultural lands (p≥0.01). Among these factors, it is observed that policy is main factor. Policymakers can play an effective role in land consolidation and macro development on the one hand and agricultural and rural development. On the other, by accurately assessing the interactive effect of land consolidation and related factors, along with the effects of this process on the evolution of agronomic systems.

The hierarchy of land consolidation processes in villages of eastern Poland, as exemplified by the Abramów commune

The hierarchy of land consolidation processes in villages of eastern Poland, as exemplified by the Abramów commune

The current and new legal regulations of spatial planning in the legal conditions of the Slovak Republic with an emphasis on spatial planning documents and spatial planning documentation

The subject of the presented article is the analysis of the spatial planning legislation that is currently valid and effective and its comparison with the spatial planning legislation that will come into effect on April 1, 2024, in the legal conditions of the Slovak Republic. The authors of the article focused primarily on the comparison of two basic spatial planning tools – spatial planning documents and spatial planning documentation. The issue of the spatial plan of the municipality is elaborated in more detail, while the article points to changes in its legal regulations in connection with the process of land consolidation and the battle against climate change.

Rural Land Consolidation and Social Consciousness Change: A Case Study of a Land Consolidation Program in Rural Chongqing, China

With the changing relationship between urban and rural areas in China, the rural areas are experiencing rapid social transformation. To ensure successful implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, land consolidation has become a major measure of rural economic reform. Existing research focuses on quantitative studies exploring the relationship between land consolidation and rural economic development, but there is a lack of studies on the relationship between land consolidation and social change. In this study, we utilized Rocha’s conceptual framework for community empowerment and selected Jin’an Village as our study area, using semi-structured interviews and semi-participatory observation to obtain original materials, with the aim of providing a detailed description of the specific practice of land consolidation and analyzing the impact of land consolidation on the transformation of rural social consciousness. The study found that the participatory practices of Chinese rural villagers in the land consolidation process are consistent with the development process of community empowerment. Rural land consolidation involves villagers in the land consolidation process, which can effectively stimulate villagers’ participation in public affairs. Concurrently, the interaction between villagers and outside investors disrupts the conventional socialization model in rural areas and motivates villagers to act in accordance with contractual agreements. The conclusion is that land consolidation in rural areas can enhance the political democracy and legal consciousness of local villagers, which can lead to a change in local social consciousness. Our findings also emphasize the crucial necessity of providing rural villagers with improved accessibility to professional services and information, coupled with the continued promotion of land consolidation to advance modernization in these areas.

Land Consolidation Process Based On Environmental Conservation and Urban Spatial Law

This article explores the benefits and implications of implementing a land consolidation process centered around environmental conservation and urban spatial law. The research in this article will use normative legal research methods with an analytical and descriptive nature. This article concludes that the land consolidation process based on environmental conservation and urban spatial planning law offers a holistic approach to promoting sustainable development. By integrating conservation practices and adhering to urban spatial regulations, the process ensures the preservation of natural resources, controlled urban expansion, sustainable infrastructure development, efficient land utilization, and the conservation of cultural heritage. Collaborative efforts among government, communities, and the private sector are essential for successful implementation. Applying this approach contributes to the overall improvement and preservation of the environment, leading to a more sustainable future.

GIS analyses of land consolidation in case of the highly fragmentated of parcels

Abstract Spatial planning and arrangement work of rural areas is constantly being renovated to improve the living conditions, land distribution and to facilitate work in this area by reducing the costs of transport. The most effective solution is consolidation and exchange of land, which is a difficult and time-consuming process. However, it significantly facilitates everyday functioning of the inhabitants of the village. It assumes reduction of plots of land belonging to the farm by increasing the area of other plots, regulating the shape, ensuring access to the public road and shortening the distances of individual farmland to their habitats (built on site). The purpose of this work was the analysis of land consolidation and exchange process for the village of Lukowa with the use of Geographical Information System (GIS) tools. Primary aim set at the beginning of the project is to compare the state before the land consolidation and the design of the parcel posting after consolidation. QGIS free software has been used to solve this problem. Two basic activities were carried out to compare the distance between built-up land and the remaining farmland. For this purpose, two analyses were performed: network analyses assuming the calculation of distance along the shape of roads and linear analyses determining the shortest distances between plots on a straight line. The work considers the real land distribution, the calculation of which is a time-consuming task. Many factors must be considered to accurately determine the correct distances. It is shown what difficulties and problems occur during the collection of data for analysis, with the correct indication of habitats and indicating the road network or aggregation of adjacent plots of one owner.

Potential of an Area in Terms of Pro-Climate Solutions in a Land Consolidation Project

Land consolidation plays an important role in promoting changes in agricultural land use and ensuring national food security. Moreover, it allows the land structure in rural areas to be built anew. By changing the spatial structure of the countryside, it is also possible to implement water and drainage measures as well as ecological and landscape measures aimed at improving farming conditions. At the same time, they have an impact on the climate. This study analysed the potential for the implementation of pro-climate solutions that can be applied when implementing a land consolidation project in terms of reducing wind speed, increasing humidity, and affecting carbon dioxide reduction. The analyses used an indicator of the potential for implementing pro-climate solutions based on an overall synthetic index taking into account 11 attributes. The results show that the micro-location potential in the context of the possibility of applying pro-climate solutions is not homogenous. It is affected, e.g., by the soil quality, the state of farming culture of the land in agricultural use, the resource and advancement of natural landscape components, and the local needs of agricultural producers to introduce environmental solutions that will simultaneously have a positive impact on farming conditions. According to research, peri-tree land can cluster, meaning that its character represents a spatial continuity. During the land consolidation process, this continuity should be preserved, especially in areas with inferior soil quality.

Proposed Algorithm for the Optimisation of the Process of Generating the Geometry of Land Use/Soil Valuation Classes for Land Consolidation

Consolidation of land is one of the main procedures for optimising agrarian structures and creating a space for sustainable rural development. A specific feature of a land consolidation project is its complexity and multiple aspects. The considerable number of complex operations making up the whole procedure implies the necessity of using specialist technical tools to ensure effective surveys. The latest developments in technology are giving way to dedicated solutions that can optimise the working time and quality of the outcomes of respective tasks. This paper outlines a self-designed algorithm for generating the technical layer of land use/soil valuation classes based on layers of soil class contours and land use contours, which are obligatory elements of a digital cadastre database in Poland. The fully automated procedure, next to efficient conversion of spatial data, involves detailed verification of the correctness of input data and elimination of various errors. The tool’s deliverable is a set of data necessary for proceeding with selected elements of the land consolidation process, such as comparative estimates of land value and farmstead designs based on land value. The designed tool was implemented at the Subcarpathian Office of Land Surveying and Agricultural Areas in Rzeszów (Poland). The proposed solutions contributed to considerable improvement in the time devoted to performing selected tasks and the substantive correctness of the results.

Automated Processing of Data in the Comparative Estimation of Land Value during Land Consolidation Works

Estimation of the value of land, underlying the design of constituent plots of the farmstead, is a decisive element of the complex procedure of land consolidation and exchange. Correctly estimated value of agricultural land is a prerequisite for adequate and equitable delimitation of land plots to improve the living conditions of local residents and ensure efficient and profitable agricultural activity. The dynamic development of technology contributes to the development of multiple tools, considerably improving design works and field surveys in the land consolidation process. The world reference literature also gives numerous examples of surveys to optimise the methods for estimating a land value for consolidation projects. However, in our opinion, despite a vast collection of self-designed calculation methods, available sources insufficiently address the optimisation of existing methods based on the current legal framework and implementing practices. This paper presents a self-designed solution for the fully automated performance of complex comparative estimation of land based on the existing cadastral data and a simplified array showing the estimated value. The tool resulted in developing a set of data for directly importing the outcomes of calculations into land surveying software supporting steps of the land consolidation process. Following detailed evaluation, the proposed self-designed solutions were implemented at the Subcarpathian Office of Land Surveying, and Agricultural Areas in Rzeszow for land consolidation works in the Subcarpathian voivodeship in southeastern Poland.

Analysis of Ecological Construction in the Process of Land Consolidation

Ecological environment protection has become a hot spot in the process of land consolidation. Land consolidation is a process of breaking the original ecological environment system and then rebuilding a new system. However, the lack of development of arable land reserve resources, the uneven quality of human settlements, and the lack of ecosystem protection and restoration technologies are still outstanding problems in land remediation. Therefore, attaching importance to land ecological construction plays an important role in promoting the implementation of China's current ecological civilization construction policy. In this paper, the idea of ecological protection and ecological construction should be carried through the whole process of land consolidation, the economic, social and ecological benefits of land consolidation project construction should be considered comprehensively, and the ecological construction problems in the process of land consolidation should be analyzed, and the concrete measures for ecological construction of land consolidation should be proposed. The research results provide scientific theoretical basis for the ecological construction of land consolidation and the development of ecological civilization in China.

Environmental impact assessment of land consolidation

Land consolidation (LC) is an important tool for the improvement of agriculture and rural development, which also includes environmental issues in most of the countries in Europe. This paper presents the most important results of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of land consolidation, conducted in the municipality of Vrsac through a pilot project based on the EU methodology set within the project: ?Strengthening Municipal Land Management in Serbia?, supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft f?r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. During the summer of 2018, field survey was carried out at 90 locations, documenting the natural, semi-natural and man-made landscape elements of ecological or cultural values, assessing their quality and estimating the potential harmful environmental impacts of the land consolidation. The already existing negative impacts of intensive agriculture were also registered, such as abandonment or overgrazing of pastures and meadows, converting grasslands into arable land, soil erosion and habitat fragmentation. Although the area of LC is without natural forest and extremely poor in semi-natural elements of rural landscape, the existing entities were revealed as refuges for protected species. Some of the grassland fragments belonged to protected habitat types. The final categorization of the landscape elements was conducted in three levels. Category I landscape elements had to remain undisturbed; Category II landscape elements could be removed with obligatory ecological compensation, while the Category III landscape elements could be removed without environmental compensation. Recommendations were given pointing out the possibilities for improving the environmental characters of the area by the land consolidation process.

Industrial Revitalization of Rural Villages via Comprehensive Land Consolidation: Case Studies in Gansu, China

Although comprehensive land consolidation may stimulate industrial revitalization, the interactions and pathways between land consolidation and industrial revitalization are unclear. Using villages in China as case studies, the historical development process and pathways of comprehensive land consolidation, and rural industrial revitalization, are summarized and clarified. Development processes and pathways for villages in Puhe, Maosi, Dianzi, and Baicaopo in Gansu Province were compared. The comparison suggested the following nested generic strategy for revitalization, comprising: (1). A core strategy for guiding industrial development that consolidates the spatial layout; (2). Strengthening ecological restoration as a key part of the optimization strategy with (1); and (3). Including and enhancing cultural industrialization as a desirable supplement. Our study and worked examples can be applied to other villages or regions worldwide to explore the development path of village industry revitalization under the guidance of our proposed comprehensive land consolidation framework.

Spatial-temporal characteristics of cultivated land use eco-efficiency under carbon constraints and its relationship with landscape pattern dynamics

With China’s rapid urbanization and socioeconomic development, cultivated land has been experiencing continuous reduction, spatial shift, and ecological degradation in the past few decades, coupled with the decreasing and aging agricultural labor force, thus improving cultivated land utilization efficiency while minimizing associated environmental impacts is one of the major challenges facing China. This study first establishes an index system to access the eco-efficiency of cultivated land use (EECLU) considering both carbon sequestration and carbon emissions, next, employs the Super-SBM model to evaluate the spatial–temporal characteristics of EECLU, then, uses landscape metrics to describe landscape pattern dynamics of cultivated land, and finally conducts panel data analysis to investigate the relationship between landscape pattern changes and the EECLU variations. This framework was applied to Jiangsu Province, a major grain-producing area with a developed economy. The results showed that the average EECLU of the counties in rural Jiangsu from 2000 to 2020 slightly decreased, most counties were in the medium–low efficiency range (0.6–0.8), and Southern Jiangsu generally has the lowest EECLU values while Central Jiangsu has the highest. The total area and the average patch sizes of cultivated land have significantly positive impacts on EECLU, while the shape complexity and patch fragmentation have significantly negative impacts on EECLU. Therefore, comprehensive low-carbon strategies and better management and technology in the agricultural sector are needed to further improve EECLU. On the premise of protecting the total area of cultivated land, larger and more aggregated land patches should be promoted in the land consolidation process, and the cultivated land targeted for occupation or compensation should be able to simplify the overall shape of cultivated land patches.

Assessment of Land Consolidation Processes from an Environmental Approach: Considerations Related to the Type of Intervention and the Structure of Farms

The process of Land Consolidation (LC) is deemed an important instrument of rural development in many countries, where it contributes to the economic development and viability of their rural areas. This paper aims to analyze three areas of Castilla y León in Northwestern Spain, all having similar agronomic features. The above areas have recently undergone LC processes. This research proves LC can contribute to reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) using the rationalization introduced in the layout of the agrarian exploitations. For this purpose, this paper analyzes the effects of LC actions on the size, shape, and level of scattering of the owners affected and compares the energy consumption in every journey from the exploitation to each plot, as well as the number of row-end turnings within the plots. GHG reductions present significant differences depending on the LC technique carried out, the size of the area consolidated, and the different degrees of intensification of agricultural exploitations. Through the three LC projects analyzed, a reduction in GHG emissions of 23.60% in SA1, 11.46% in SA2, and 9.85% in SA3 would have been obtained. In total, 1067.34 t CO2 of GHG emissions would have been mitigated. In the light of the results obtained, LC can be considered an efficient process in the strategy of GHG reduction, all in line with the current commitments derived from the Paris Agreement. It is also necessary to continue to research the structure and importance of the consumption of fossil fuels in farming and its possible link to emission reduction policies.

Optimising Land Consolidation by Implementing UAV Technology

The increase in population and the growing demand for food that accompanies it drive the need to achieve sustainable agriculture. Technological progress and methodological novelties provide tools that may support the processes of improving the spatial structure of agricultural lands, as well as their management. One of the examples may be the application of photogrammetric and remote-sensing products to facilitate land consolidation. In the following paper, the systematised procedure of conduct is investigated to determine the moments at which these products could be adopted. In identifying the possibilities for implementing the abovementioned tools, we analyse the legal regulations governing the process and the literature on the subject, as well as some practical examples encountered in surveying practice. In addition, the usefulness of such geospatial products is tested on data gathered during an exemplary UAV flight. We then investigate the issues with implementing the abovementioned tools and assess their advantages and disadvantages in smart agriculture. The research proves that reliable elaboration of the consolidation project concept is critical for its correct realisation, while modern measurement methods providing efficient, up-to-date, factual data facilitate the procedures and support rational decision making. Moreover, they enable us to ensure the necessary accuracy of the data for the scope of the land use and avoid analysing a compilation of several cartographic materials concerning the surveyed object. In the present study, the RMSExyz mean square error at the control points for the orthomosaic, generated using the Matrice 210 RTK v2 professional flying platform, is 5.6 cm, while for the orthomosaic created from images from the amateur drone Mavic 2 Pro RMSExyz, it is 9.2 cm. The results obtained also indicate the usefulness of low-budget drones during the land consolidation process.

Social Aspects in Land Consolidation Processes

Land consolidation is an instrument that readjusts land parcel shapes and reallocates land rights in order to minimize farmland fragmentation, optimize agricultural output, and generate optimal living and working conditions in rural areas. The optimization and reallocation algorithms typically rely on monetarized values of land parcels, soil quality, and compensation amounts. Yet, land management interventions also need instruments for socio-spatial optimization, which may be in conflict with the monetary ones. Many non-monetary values are qualitative in nature. Hence, there is a research gap in how such values can be detected and incorporated, such that they can create a multi-dimensional land consolidation outcome. This study applies a situational analytical approach to investigate how, where, and when social values and belief systems play a role in land consolidation cases in three different study areas. This process enables the qualitative detection of which types of social values are central during land consolidations and which ones are most essential when evaluating outcomes of land consolidation. The synthesis derives that the incorporation of aims—such as addressing socio-spatial affinity, need for equity and fairness, human recognition, and good neighborship—is possible through an innovation in land consolidation practices, social valuation methods, and/or socially responsive land consolidation laws.

Czekanowski’s Diagram and Spatial Data Cluster Analysis for Planning Sustainable Development of Rural Areas

Defects in the spatial structure of agricultural land resulting from the common phenomenon of land fragmentation constitute one of the most important factors that contribute to the lack of rational land management. Reconstruction of the spatial structure of rural areas is essential for their sustainable development. The process of land consolidation is a tool that can arrange space and lead to the desired structural changes. It is reasonable to select objects for land consolidation in such a way as to obtain the best possible effect. This article presents an algorithm for grouping areas with the concentration of the external land ownership patchwork with the use of Czekanowski’s method of cluster analysis. The clusters determined this way can be treated as the whole objects subjected to land consolidation, for which the process will bring the greatest benefits in terms of the elimination of the external land ownership patchwork. The described algorithm is relatively simple to use and the graphical final form is easy for the result interpretation. It allows for multi-variant examination of the analyzed phenomenon and can be applied wherever there is access to reliable information from land registry and cadastral and GIS databases that are used to obtain a complete picture of the spatial and ownership structure of the analyzed areas.

Toward serving land consolidation on the table of sustainability: An overview of the research landscape and future directions

Land consolidation, as a sustainability-oriented policy design, has been implemented worldwide for promoting agricultural production and rural development. Although there has been a large number of publications on land consolidation, few attempts have been made to systematically assess the existing research. To fill this gap, here we present a comprehensive literature review of land consolidation based on materials collected from Web of Science. Through applying quantitative and qualitative analysis to the collected literature, including statistical analysis, cluster analysis and main path analysis, we found: (1) Land consolidation has formed an interdisciplinary research field with more than one century’s history, with scientists from developing countries more active than those from developed countries. (2) The hot topics of rural sustainability, impacts evaluation, land fragmentation and land reallocation are closely related to the theme of land consolidation. (3) Research of land consolidation mainly covers three knowledge domains: origins of land consolidation, operation process of land consolidation, and impacts of land consolidation. To advance land consolidation to better serve the pursuit of sustainability, we suggest to take a diagnostic approach to assessing the suitability and feasibility of land consolidation before launching a project, and to adopt a transdisciplinary approach to linking science with knowledge through involving both scientists and stakeholders into the knowledge production and application process.

Geospatial database use for land consolidation objectives in Ukraine

The issue of geospatial database provisioning for land consolidation objectives in Ukraine has been scrutinized in the article. The thematic justification is predefined by the increasing need for land consolidation and the need for the provision of the land consolidation process with the updated, full and valid data. The goal of the research is the substantiation of a set of the subject geospatial data as a constituent of the national infrastructure needed for managerial decisions on agricultural land consolidation and the respective land management plan development. Basic geospatial data sets predefined by the legislation in effect have been examined from the prospect of land consolidation. Thematic geospatial data sets have been suggested. The use of the suggested geospatial data sets in the course of the key stages of land consolidation has been analysed. The use of geospatial data at the implementation of a land consolidation project using the land reallotment optimization model has been examined. The research results can be used at the land consolidation decision making support, land resources management, development of specialized geoportals, in the following scientific researches on the development of the national geospatial data infrastructure, land consolidation in Ukraine.