ABSTRACT Advances in vehicle technology have expanded household vehicle choice beyond vehicles’ body and age to include fuel options and technologies. This study examines preferences for vehicle body, vintage, fuel type, and the presence of advanced driving assistive systems (ADAS) using retrospective survey data from Canada. A multi-dimensional probit model is applied to capture correlations across these choice dimensions. Results confirm the existence of significant correlations, e.g., a strong positive correlation between alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and ADAS. The study also investigates the effects of households’ historical experiences, e.g., historical vehicle fleet composition, and exposure to technology in daily life and vehicles. Findings indicate that historically owning AFVs and ADAS has a positive influence on the preference for vehicles with ADAS. These insights support targeted marketing strategies to encourage adoption of sustainable and safe vehicles, and inform transportation and land-use policies aimed at shaping vehicle choice behavior across different population groups.

Satellite time-series mapping and driving mechanisms of cropland abandonment in mountainous regions of China.

ABSTRACT Land resources are increasingly becoming a key constraining and enabling factor for urban-rural integration (URI) development, while the complexity and systematic nature of current urban-rural development make it particularly sensitive to the impacts of land-use policies. The mechanism through which China’s differentiated urban land use tax pilot policy (DULUT) promotes URI has not yet been fully explored. Based on three dimensions—industrial structure upgrading, land use efficiency improvement, and enhanced flows of land factors—this paper examines the pathway through which DULUT facilitates URI. By analysing panel data from 277 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2021, a time-varying difference-in-differences model is constructed to compare the URI development levels between pilot and non-pilot cities before and after policy implementation. The findings show that DULUT significantly promotes the URI process through the above three mechanisms. The results also indicate that this effect is more pronounced in non-resource-based cities, non-core cities, as well as in eastern and central regions.

Land use land cover (LULC) change is a major factor driving changes in environmental sustainability, including alterations in the hydrological cycle, declining biodiversity, and impacts on agricultural systems. Various studies have been conducted to assess LULC change in Kentucky watersheds. However, there is limited research that comprehensively evaluates the change at a Basin level. Our study examined the spatiotemporal pattern of LULC from 2002 to 2022, and we explored one of the major drivers influencing LULC in the Kentucky River Basin. This study utilized Google Earth Engine and a random forest classifier to map the LULC using Landsat 5 and Landsat 8 imagery. The accuracy of the maps classified was verified using high-resolution NAIP imagery. The overall accuracy was greater than 90%, and the Kappa was above 80%. The result shows substantial land transition in the basin, specifically, a decline in agricultural land (55.74%) and an increase in developed land (114.16%) relative to their 2002 baseline. The forest cover has a net gain of (1.81%), and barren land has a net loss of (-24.15%), indicating a major ecological restoration from 2012 to 2022, attributed to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The water body has a net loss (53.05%), raising concern about the hydrological process of the basin. The regression analysis shows that population change was significant in some periods but had a weak influence on agricultural land loss. These findings indicate that a land-use change is underway in the Basin, necessitating an urgent approach that integrates sustainable land-use policy and drought-responsive management with the Basin's ecological processes.

Rural heritage villages in China face compounding pressures from heritagisation policies, tourism marketisation, and digital platform logics, which together threaten the cultural integrity of lineage-based communities. While existing scholarship has shifted from treating authenticity as a fixed property to viewing it as a negotiated construct, a critical gap persists: the literature does not explain how local actors operationally manage the simultaneous demands of external governance compliance and internal cultural continuity. Drawing on multi-sited ethnography conducted across ritual spaces, tourism settings, and digital platforms in Huizhou lineage villages (March–August 2025)—including over 30 h of in-depth interviews with 18 cultural practitioners and two years of online community ethnography (2023–2025) within Huizhou traditional village cultural liaison groups—this study examines the micro-level strategies through which communities respond to Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD). The study introduces the concept of Versioned Governance: a community-enacted mechanism through which cultural authenticity is strategically differentiated into ritual, performative, and pedagogical versions. Through spatial partitioning, temporal staggering, and linguistic encoding, lineage groups create cultural buffer zones that mediate between sacred practice and public display without compromising ethical coherence. This framework reframes authenticity not as an essential property nor as mere negotiated perception, but as a processual and political achievement—continuously produced through the interplay of structural discipline and local agency. The findings contribute to critical heritage studies and offer practical implications for cultural land-use and heritage governance policy in non-Western rural contexts.

We estimate the causal impact of a high-frequency bus upgrade on neighborhood labor-market outcomes using the August 2019 launch of Pace’s Pulse Milwaukee Line in the Chicago region. We use public data-Pace GTFS schedules (stops/headways), ACS tract-level socioeconomic measures, and LEHD/LODES workplace counts. Using this database, we build a tract-level panel combining annual workplace employment outcomes with multi-year household outcomes, and then we implement a transparent difference-in-differences design that compares tracts within 0.5 miles of new Pulse stops to a 0.5–2 mile control ring before and after service begins. We find no detectable short-run effects, but we estimate a positive and economically sizable increase in workplace jobs per resident (0.066;≈14% of the pre-treatment mean). Under conventional tract-clustered inference, this estimate is marginal (p = 0.073); thus, we interpret it as suggestive rather than definitive evidence. Our results are highly robust. Event-study estimates show flat pre-trends and post-treatment gains persisting into years +1 and +2; our placebo corridors yield null effects; and our buffer-width tests show monotonic strengthening. Finally, our population-weighted estimates remain positive, though smaller. To conclude, the results suggest that frequency improvements can reallocate jobs toward upgraded corridors even when resident employment and incomes do not move immediately. Our results may highlight a likely sequencing of impacts and the potential need for complementary land-use and workforce policies to translate accessibility gains into household-level benefits.

Urban areas across Europe are undergoing rapid morphological transformations driven by densification, redevelopment, and infrastructure expansion. Monitoring these urban changes requires operational, harmonized, and reproducible approaches grounded in Earth Observation. This study presents a Copernicus use case demonstrating how the High-Resolution Layer Imperviousness Change (2015–2018) and Urban Atlas datasets can be integrated with the Guidos Toolbox (GTB) to quantify structural urban change across six metropolitan areas (Milan, Sofia, Riga, Warsaw, Viseu, Santander). Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) and entropy-based indicators were applied to characterize land take, fragmentation, compaction, and internal reorganization of impervious surfaces. The combined framework captured both configurational morphology and spatial disorder, revealing divergent development patterns: pronounced heterogeneity and fragmentation in Sofia, stabilization or compact growth in Milan, Warsaw, and Santander, controlled densification in Riga, and localized intensification without outward expansion in Viseu. All analyses rely on openly accessible Copernicus data and open-source tools, ensuring full reproducibility and transferability. Outputs were disseminated through a FAIR-compliant geoportal developed within a Copernicus FPCUP project, supporting transparency and reuse. The findings underscore the value of Copernicus services for operational urban monitoring and provide a scalable methodology to support European land-use policies, including the Zero Net Land Take 2050 target and the EU Soil Strategy.

The large-scale conversion of forest into urban infrastructure has raised concerns about vegetation degradation, land-use transformation, and ecosystem stability. Aims: to evaluate vegetation index changes and urban environmental transformations in Indonesia’s new capital city, Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN), due to large-scale development. Methodology and results: to assess these changes, a multitemporal satellite imagery taken from Google Earth combined with NASA Earth Observatory was conducted using the Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI) analysis method to analyze pre- and post-development conditions in the IKN area. This data is also supported by field visits in 2024 to the Core Government Centre Area (Kawasan Inti Pusat Pemerintahan/KIPP) for direct land cover observations. The results reveal a significant vegetation loss and rapid IKN development, indicating the environmental impact of IKN’s development. Conclusion, significance and impact study: These findings emphasize the urgency of implementing sustainable urban planning strategies to mitigate the environmental effects of large-scale urbanization. By systematically analyzing environmental changes, this study provides critical data that can serve as a foundation for policymakers in formulating strategies that support ecological preservation and sustainable urban growth in IKN. Strategies such as smart city design, ecosystem-based approaches, and resilience planning are essential to achieve the goals of SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). At the same time, mitigation measures including reforestation, green infrastructure, and equitable land-use policies are directly connected to SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). These connections underscore the relevance of linking environmental technology with global sustainability agendas.

Understanding the spatial factors influencing land-use transitions is essential for sustainable land management. This study analyzed nationwide land-use change in Japan over 45 years using 100 m governmental land-use grids, examining the effects of institutional zoning and pre-existing land-use patterns. A comparison of 1976 and 2021 land use revealed that 76.4% of grids exhibited no change, 5.5% experienced urbanization, 4.8% were newly cultivated, 4.5% were abandoned; 1.2% underwent crop conversion, 2.1% experienced vegetation succession, 2.0% were affected by residential relocation, 1.7% involved the creation of new water bodies, 0.9% reflected waterway stabilization, and 0.8% fell into other categories. Among unchanged grids, forests accounted for 59.6%; water bodies, 29.7%; urban land, 3.1%; farmland and paddy fields, 7.1%; and wastelands, 0.4%. Urban planning boundaries effectively mitigated uncontrolled sprawl, However, farmland abandonment occurred more frequently within designated urban planning zones. In contrast, conservation areas were effective in maintaining both farmland and forest land uses. Proximity to DIDs accelerated both urban and non-urban transitions—including farmland abandonment and new cultivation—indicating that the 500–2,000 m range from DIDs constitutes the primary sprawl zone. In this zone, land-use dynamics appear to be shaped more by demographic proximity than by regulatory control. These findings highlight how planning frameworks and population distribution jointly determine land-use trajectories, providing an empirical basis foundation for refining land-use policies that balance urban containment, farmland and forest conservation, and sustainable land management amid demographic decline.

Land-use policies founded on the expertise and interests of key stakeholders are likely the most implementable and politically long-lasting, assuming stakeholders share a broader, similar perception of the future. We investigated whether there is a difference in how eleven indicator species of conservation concern may be affected given policy and forestry scenarios of four key forest stakeholders for a 100000ha Swedish landscape over the coming 100 years. We used colonization-extinction models and species distribution models. Most species had stable or increasing metapopulation sizes or occurrence probabilities after 100 years under all except the most production-oriented scenario by private landowners. For six wood-decaying fungi, forests protected or managed with continuous cover forestry (CCF) drove the positive developments. By contrast, these species essentially disappeared from stands with even-aged clearcutting forestry. Regarding the 14.5% strict protection applied by the state-owned forest company increased the area occupied by these species. Protecting an even larger area and application of CCF in the scenarios of the (non-)governmental conservation organizations increased fungal metapopulation sizes even more. Four bird species showed stable or positive developments in all scenarios. The same held true for the epiphytic lichen Lobaria pulmonaria, because the management applied projected increasing host tree numbers and densities. Thus, protecting up to 20% of the productive forest, applying more alternative management regimes and less even-aged clearcutting rotation forestry has the potential to greatly increase the (meta)population size and improve the red-list status of all the focal species, and presumably also of other species of conservation concern.

Urban wetlands are crucial ecosystems that offer a wide range of ecosystem services, including flood mitigation, biodiversity support, and climate regulation. However, in rapidly urbanizing areas, the sustainability of these services is increasingly compromised by land fragmentation. The objective of this research was to identify ecosystems services provide by the Bellanwila-Attidiya Wetland and to analyse spatial and temporal changes of wetland fragmentation and to evaluate the drivers of loss of ecosystem services provided by the Bellanwila-Attidiya Wetland due to wetland fragmentation. A geospatial assessment was carried out using Landsat satellite images acquired in 1995, 2011 and 2024 to assess spatial and temporal changes of fragmentation. Fragmentation parameters such as the Number of Patches, Patch Density, Mean Patch Area, and Edge Density were estimated using QGIS to assess wetland fragmentation that affects the sustainability of ecosystem services. Then factors affecting the loss of ecosystem services due to fragmentation was assessed. The data were collected through key informant interviews with experts and focus group discussions with local residents of the wetland. The results indicated that the Bellanwila-Attidiya Wetland provides vital ecosystem services including flood regulation, biodiversity conservation, water purification, air pollution control recreational opportunities and health benefits for residents and people living in surrounding region. Spatial analysis from 1995 to 2024 reveals a significant reduction in wetland cover from 60% to 38% accompanied by increased fragmentation, with the number of wetland patches rising from 16 in 1995 to 141 in 2024. Household surveys and interviews revealed that unregulated housing expansion (70%), inadequate enforcement of environmental laws (68%), and infrastructure development (65%) as the primary factors of wetland fragmentation that have affected the sustainability of ecosystem services in Bellanwila-Attidiya Wetland. The survey data revealed that 67% of respondents have observed a noticeable decline in water quality over the past decade. Biodiversity indicators, including bird and amphibian presence, were reported to have decreased by 45% since 2000, based on observational and community-reported data. The findings of the research highlight the need for stronger conservation efforts. Implementing clear land-use policies, restoration programs, and better enforcement can be recommended to sustain the Bellanwila-Attidiya Wetland's ecosystem services.

Scientific planning and management of urban land supply are critical to the high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). However, existing research lacks a systematic analysis of the evolution and risks of urban land supply-demand matching under different scenarios. This study integrates land suitability assessment with land-use simulation to develop an urban land supply-demand matching evaluation framework (S-LUS), based on the supply-demand ratio (SDR) and spatial matching degree (SMD). The empirical results show that under the economic development scenario, the supply-demand ratio continues to decline, with the risk of urban land supply-demand imbalance emerging as early as 2060. Under the farmland protection scenario, the decline in the supply-demand ratio slows, but spatial matching continues to deteriorate, and the Macao-Zhuhai-Zhongshan-Jiangmen (MZZJ) urban cluster also faces a risk of supply-demand imbalance. Under the ecological restoration scenario, both the supply-demand matching degree and the supply-demand ratio remain relatively stable, although urban land demand is constrained. These findings reveal the complex dynamics of urban land supply-demand matching in the GBA under different scenarios and highlight the challenges of coordinating multiple objectives, underscoring the necessity of integrating economic development, ecological protection, and land protection goals in land-use policy design.

Rapid, state-led urbanization in China often generates socio-spatial vulnerabilities, leaving interstitial “waiting lands” in a state of regulatory and ecological limbo. This paper investigates “nomadic gardens”—spontaneous, resident-led cultivation in Jinan—as a bottom-up strategy for adaptive capacity. Using a mixed-methods approach involving site typologies and community surveys (n = 100), we identify eight distinct garden forms that function as socio-ecological buffers, mitigating the risks of social isolation and psychological distress among elderly residents. Findings reveal a significant resilience gap caused by rigid land-use policies that prioritize ornamental aesthetics over functional productivity. We propose an Adaptive Urbanism framework that utilizes modular design and transitional governance to transform these precarious spaces into managed resilience assets. By shifting the planning focus from enforcement to risk-responsive design, this research provides a scalable model for sustainable urban risk management in rapidly transforming global cities.

ABSTRACT The rapid expansion of fast-growing trees like eucalyptus and Acacia decurrens is driving forest transitions in Ethiopia. While promoted for carbon sequestration and climate mitigation, the combined ecological and economic impacts of land-use change remain underexplored. This study examines ecosystem integrity and economic growth in South and Southeast Ethiopia using panel data from satellite imagery, integrating ecological indicators with night-time lights as a proxy for economic activity. A dynamic difference-in-difference (DID) framework assesses eucalyptus expansion across three agro-ecological zones. Results show heterogeneous effects: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) increases dynamically, moisture stress index (MSI) shows no persistent change, and land surface temperature (LST) rises variably across zones. Total ecosystem service value (TESV) increases by 45.4% per hectare per year, with significant gains in regulating, supporting, and cultural services, but minimal effects on provisioning services. Benefits are strongest in montane forests and grassland/woodland zones, weaker in Afro-alpine areas. This study highlights both trade-offs and synergies associated with eucalyptus-based land use and land cover (LULC) change. It also provides a quantitative framework for monitoring ecosystem responses to land-use change. Additionally, it highlights evidence to guide land-use policy, forest governance, and climate-smart development planning in Ethiopia and beyond.

Land-use dynamics in rapidly urbanizing metropolitan regions profoundly reshape the spatial structure and functional connectivity of greenspace ecological network (GEN). However, how land-use policies influence GEN structure and resilience at the metropolitan scale remains unclear. To accurately predict GEN changes and support scenario-based optimization for sustainable planning, this study proposed a multi-scenario optimization framework that coupled multi-objective programming (MOP) model, patch-level land-use simulation (PLUS) model, morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) model, and least-cost path (LCP) model. The Nanjing Metropolitan Area (NMA) was used to simulate four scenarios: business as usual (BAU), rapid economic development (RED), ecological land protection (ELP), and ecological and economic balance (EEB).The results showed that: (1) The MOP-PLUS model achieved high accuracy (overall accuracy of 84.58%, Kappa coefficient of 0.74, and FoM value of 0.27), effectively capturing regional land-use dynamics; (2) Land-use transitions and GEN structures significantly varied across scenarios, with RED causing severe ecological loss, whereas ELP and EEB scenarios effectively enhanced ecological connectivity; (3) The scenario-based GEN optimization highlighted that the EEB scenario provided the most practical balance, promoting both ecological stability and cost-efficient land management. These findings directly inform sustainable land-use policies and strategic planning decisions in metropolitan regions, revealing the methodological advantages of integrating scenario simulations with GEN analyzes for optimized greenspace management.

This study examines indigenous water governance among the Nung and Tay people in northern Vietnam, focusing on Lang Son Province, a China-Vietnam borderland adjacent to Guangxi. While earlier ethnographic studies have documented traditional irrigation techniques among Nung and Tay communities, less is known about how these systems are currently organized, negotiated, and rearticulated under changing environmental conditions and institutional frameworks. The analysis draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2024 and 2025 in three localities of Lang Son Province, combining participant observation, in-depth interviews, and on-site surveys of irrigation infrastructure. Sixty-five Nung and Tay farmers were interviewed to document contemporary practices, decision-making processes, and local interpretations of water use and management. Ethnographic materials were thematically analyzed with attention to both technical arrangements and their social and ritual dimensions. The study shows that water management among the Nung and Tay functions as a community-based governance system centered on "phai" (weirs), "muong" (canals), "lai", and "lin". New fieldwork observations indicate that water-sharing practices are actively renegotiated in response to increasingly irregular rainfall, shifting cropping calendars, and the implementation of state irrigation and land-use policies. Customary rules and ritual practices continue to legitimize water allocation and communal authority, while also providing flexible frameworks for adjusting labor coordination and managing emerging conflicts. Comparison with selected Zhuang communities in Guangxi reveals shared cosmological understandings of water alongside contemporary differences in governance mechanisms and modes of institutional integration across the border. These findings challenge static representations of indigenous irrigation as a harmonious and self-regulating tradition, revealing it instead as a negotiated and uneven governance system shaped by ecological stress and institutional asymmetries. By foregrounding recent ethnographic evidence, this study advances existing scholarship by demonstrating how indigenous irrigation systems among the Nung and Tay operate as adaptive, socially embedded governance arrangements rather than static technical traditions. The findings highlight the capacity of indigenous water governance to respond to climatic and policy pressures and underscore its relevance for culturally grounded and sustainable agricultural development in upland border regions.

Abstract Comprising eight nations and over one-fifth of the world’s population, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an important bloc. Its green-economy transition relies on coordinated efforts by national and local governments, private firms, community groups, and international agencies, and is supported by renewable-energy incentives, carbon-pricing mechanisms, sustainable land-use policies, and green-finance initiatives. This study aims to identify effective strategies and policy recommendations that support economic sustainability and carbon neutrality in the SAARC region through a thorough analysis of the causal relationships between economic indicators and carbon emissions. The study utilizes the Panel cointegration tests (the Kao test and the Pedroni tests), and the Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to examine the interconnections between economic growth, use of renewable energy, social entrepreneurship, and carbon emission in SAARC countries. The current study aims to examine the short-term dynamics and long-term equilibrium between important variables like Gross Domestic Product (GDP), natural resources (NR), globalization index (GI), industrial structure (IS), renewable energy consumption (REC), and carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂). Our results show that a 1 percent increase in globalization raises GDP by 2.61 percent, a 1 percent increase in the sustainable development index raises GDP by 0.10 percent, and a 1 percent increase in industrial structure raises GDP by 0.56 percent. Also, a 1percent increase in natural resources causes CO₂ emissions to go up by 0.057 percent in the long term, while a 1 percent rise in globalization and industrial structure causes CO₂ emissions to go up by 0.278 percent and 0.222 percent, respectively. The results show that REC and carbon emissions are inversely related to each other, suggesting that a 1 percent increase in REC may lead to a long-term reduction in CO₂ emissions of 0.316 percent. Our findings imply that SAARC policymakers should boost REC, realign industrial structures, and implement carbon‐pricing mechanisms to drive economic growth while achieving carbon neutrality. With the help of these findings, policymakers can make informed choices that will advance sustainable development and help the SAARC nations become carbon neutral. Graphical Abstract

Unmanaged wild and alien plants in semi-natural landscapes support livelihoods of low-income households in southern Java, Indonesia

Global urbanization of nonhuman primate (hereafter primate) habitats is rapidly increasing the overlap between human and primate populations, often resulting in more frequent and complex human-primate interactions. While such interactions have been extensively documented for several terrestrial primate species, interactions are increasingly occurring with arboreal species, especially in highly urbanized touristic destinations. Here, we describe how the rapid expansion of urban and linear infrastructure (e.g., roads, railways) in the forested areas of the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, is affecting local Geoffroy's spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) populations and reshaping human-monkey interactions. Although human-spider monkey interactions are rarely aggressive, the increasingly close contact between people and monkeys poses serious ecological effects, including changes in spider monkey behavior and diet, as well as increased potential for disease transmission and illegal primate trade. Examples from Quintana Roo, however, demonstrate that coexistence is possible through well-enforced no-feeding policies, participatory monitoring of spider monkey populations, and the integration of ecological data into urban and tourism planning. Our aim is to highlight the urgent need for (1) thoughtful, evidence-based coexistence strategies as cities continue to expand into primate habitats and (2) primatologists, conservationists, urban planners, and policymakers to play an active role in integrating primate ecology into land-use and tourism policies to ensure the long-term persistence of primates and the socio-ecological systems they inhabit.

Improved ecological risk assessment of heavy metal contamination using machine learning-corrected portable XRF measurements in a high-sulfur mining landscape