Land use - NTNU Sustainability
Land use
The theme of land-use changes is important in all the key areas. Insight into political, social and cultural driving forces is necessary to enable sustainable land use at an overarching level.
Land use is imperative to the development of sustainable cities; for example, through higher densities and mixed-use development and through the influence of green structures in urban areas on the population's health and welfare.
Land-use changes represent the most important driving force for changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services, both globally and nationally. Land use is also an issue in environment and sustainability analysis; for example, in ecological footprint analysis.
Research questions
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Institutional framework:
How does the current land use in Norway and in developing countries support sustainability? How to change politics and institutional frameworks to support sustainable land use? -
Sustainable urban and regional development:
How to plan urban land use including infrastructural systems with least impact on nature and food and fuel security and in support of sustainable development for societies in Norway and in developing countries. -
Biodiversity and ecosystem services:
How does land use affect biodiversity (through management, fragmentation, degradation, restoration, conservation and land abandonment) and ecosystem services (food and fuel security, soils, water, and climate regulation). -
Environmental and sustainability analyses:
Land use mapping with GIS tools should be used together with spatial modelling of population dynamics (biodiversity and human populations) and ecosystem service distributions and accessibility.