Land Use Policies for Sustainable Development: Exploring Integrated Assessment Approaches

The success of land use policies has in the past often been hampered by the fact that we simply do not know enough about their impact on sustainable development across developing countries. This book contributes to bridging this knowledge gap while facilitating the successful design and implementation of land use policies. The challenge of land use changes in response to changes in the policy environment – macro policy, agricultural and forest policy, environmental policy – is explored with a focus on the South. Detailed case studies encompassing seven countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America are presented via a common framework of analysis. In each case, sustainable development concerns are identified from environmental, economic and social perspectives. The interrelated causes of these problems are analyzed by identifying key drivers and relevant land use policies, and the potential impact of prioritized land use policies are then discussed.

This important book will prove invaluable to academics, researchers, postgraduate students and policy makers concerned with land-use planning, sustainable development and environmental studies.

Contributors: A.M. Arbi, I. Bezlepkina, M. Bonin, F. Brouwer, M. Bursztyn, L. Chen, Y. Cisse, E. Coudel, S.A. Dalimunthe, N. Debortoli, N.I.S. Dewi, S. Feng, L.N. Gachimbi, P. Gicheru, H. Jeder, S. Kashyap, H. Konig, D. Lindoso, X. Ma, D. McNeill, S.N. Makokha, I. Nesheim, N. Novira, N. Ounalli, S. Patil, S. Purushothaman, F. Qu, T.S. Rahayu, P. Reidsma, S. Rodrigues-Filho, J. Schuler, M. Sghaier, X. Shi, J.-P. Tonneau, R. Verburg, J. Von Braun, J.W. Wamuongo, A.P. Wicaksono