sustainability-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Ecosystem Services and Sustainable Spatial Planning

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (7 December 2023) | Viewed by 2879

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Spatial Planning, Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), Vienna, Austria
Interests: ecological economics; environmental valuation; ecosystem services; planning; infrastructure economics; public finance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The impacts of fossil fuel use, land use changes, and production and consumption patterns on global heating and biodiversity loss is evident, especially in industrialized countries. IPCC reports, reports of IPBES, and numerous country studies have highlighted the manifold crises challenging all sectors of our economies and societies. Spatial planning and infrastructure policies are especially susceptible to these challenges (e.g., adaption to global heating), but are provide major negative contributions to these crises. The linkages between ecosystem services to spatial (land use) planning and infrastructure policies remain vague; many land use instruments do not specifically account for ecosystem services. This Special Issue will consider these important connections.

Original research articles and review papers are welcome. Research topics may include (but are not limited to):

  • Categories and types of ecosystem services (ES) important for spatial planning;
  • Differences between urban and rural land use (planning), and ecosystem services;
  • Consideration of ecosystem services in spatial planning and infrastructure policies;
  • Measurement, assessment, valuation of ecosystem services for spatial planning;
  • Case studies and examples of successful acknowledgement of ecosystem services in planning;
  • Instruments and frameworks for including ecosystem services in spatial planning and infrastructure policies/projects;
  • Global or regional perspectives of ecosystem services in planning;
  • Impacts of planning and infrastructures on ecosystem services (including methods for assessing impacts);
  • Contribution of ecosystem services to sustainable planning;
  • Determinants of ecosystem services and the degradation of ES.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Michael Getzner
Guest Editor

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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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

  • ecosystem services (ES)
  • assessment/valuation of ES
  • ES and spatial (land use) planning
  • infrastructure policies

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

25 pages, 24856 KiB  
Article
Optimizing an Urban Green Space Ecological Network by Coupling Structural and Functional Connectivity: A Case for Biodiversity Conservation Planning
by Yuan Zhou, Jing Yao, Mingkun Chen and Mi Tang
Sustainability 2023, 15(22), 15818; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152215818 - 10 Nov 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2357
Abstract
Strengthening and optimizing the spatial structure and functional connectivity of green space ecological networks can not only relieve the tight urban space and provide biodiversity protection but also promote the virtuous cycle of the urban ecosystem and provide a new method for the [...] Read more.
Strengthening and optimizing the spatial structure and functional connectivity of green space ecological networks can not only relieve the tight urban space and provide biodiversity protection but also promote the virtuous cycle of the urban ecosystem and provide a new method for the resilient development of the urban landscape. In this study, the central area of Chengdu was taken as the study area; Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) with landscape metrics were combined to determine the optimal distance threshold and identify the ecological sources. Graph theory and circuit theory were applied to construct and optimize the green space ecological network with structural or functional connectivity, respectively. Based on the coupling effect, the optimization of the ecological network was put forward, and the network analysis method was used to evaluate the connectivity of three different types of ecological networks. The results were as follows: (1) The ecological network with structural connectivity was composed of 74 stepping stones, 43 protective sources, and 315 ecological corridors. The connectivity of green space structures gradually decreased from west to east and from periphery to center. (2) In the optimal ecological network with functional connectivity, 176 important ecological corridors were protected, and 40 pinch points and 48 protective sources were identified. The number of important corridors in the east and south was the largest, and the network structure was relatively complex. The barriers were divided into three different levels of ecological restoration areas. (3) The green ecological network with structural and functional connectivity has the best network connectivity. A green space ring network optimization pattern of one center, two belts, multi-points, multi-corridors, and multi-zones connected in a series was proposed. It was suggested to build a multi-level forest ecosystem in Longquan Mountain, develop eco-fruit agriculture and eco-tourism, enrich the biodiversity of the ecological source, and improve its anti-interference ability to the external environment. It is also important to increase ecological strategic points and stepping stones to strengthen the links between different ecological restoration areas, properly handle the use of cultivated land in different regions, strictly observe the red line of cultivated land, and maintain the integrity and diversity of ecological sources. Therefore, the optimization method of the green space ecological network in this study provides technical support for the effective determination of ecological protection areas, the accurate implementation of green space ecological networks, and a scientific planning strategy for decision-makers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Services and Sustainable Spatial Planning)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop