Optimization of the Weighted Linear Combination Method for Agricultural Land Suitability Evaluation Considering Current Land Use and Regional Differences

Spatio-Temporal Synergy between Urban Built-Up Areas and Poverty Transformation in Tibet

Understanding the causes of poverty and identifying the transformation characteristics of poverty is the basis for achieving poverty eradication. In order to clarify the availability of construction land for poverty assessment, this paper explores the spatio-temporal synergy between urban built-up areas and poverty transformation in Tibet. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) the built-up areas in Tibetan counties have been growing from 2013 to 2019; (2) the proportion of counties with very low and low levels of relative poverty have decreased significantly, and the overall spatial characteristics of poverty are “high in the center and low in the surroundings”; (3) the overall coupling-coordination level between the built-up areas and the relative poverty level is gradually improving from the initial antagonism, and the relative-poverty index shows a significant negative correlation with coupling coordination (correlation coefficient of −0.63); and (4) the built-up area has a strong explanatory power for the spatial distribution of regional relative-poverty transfer compared to temperature, precipitation, elevation, and slope. The results of the study prove that the built-up area cannot be directly used as an indicator factor when constructing the multidimensional relative-poverty model and, instead, should use urban built-up areas by region to participate in poverty-estimation models based on regional economic development.

A Novel Composite Index to Measure Environmental Benefits in Urban Land Use Optimization Problems

In urban land use optimization problems, different conflicting objectives are applied. One of the most significant goals in urban land use optimization problems is to maximize environmental benefits. To quantify environmental benefits in land use optimization, many researchers have employed a variety of methodologies. According to previous studies, there is no standard approach for calculating environmental benefits in urban land use allocation problems. Against this background, this study aims to (a) identify indicators of environmental benefits and (b) propose a novel composite index to measure environmental benefits in urban land use optimization problems. This study identified four indicators as a measure of environmental benefits based on a literature assessment and expert opinion. These are spatial compactness, land surface temperature, carbon storage, and ecosystem service value. In this work, we proposed a novel composite environmental benefits index (EBI) to quantify environmental benefits in urban land use allocation problems using an ordered weighted averaging (OWA) method. The study results showed that land surface temperature (LST) is the most influential indicator of environmental benefit while carbon storage is the least important factor. Finally, the proposed method was applied in Rajshahi city in Bangladesh. This study identified that, in an average-risk decision, most of the land (64.55%) of the study area falls within the low-environmental-benefit zone due to a lack of vegetated land cover. The result suggests the potential of using EBI in the land use allocation problem to ensure environmental benefits.

Utilizing Population Distribution Patterns for Disaster Vulnerability Assessment: Case of Foreign Residents in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area of Japan

Foreign residents in Japan are amongst the vulnerable groups at risk to disasters in the country. Improvement is crucial in meeting Japan’s vison of zero casualties in major disaster events. If the case of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina is to offer an insight into migrants’ characteristics in mega-disaster situations, then a broader analysis of vulnerabilities is needed to avoid mass casualties should the anticipated megathrust earthquake occur. Hence, this study analyzes the vulnerabilities of foreign residents by utilizing their spatial distribution attributes in the Tokyo metropolitan area. This study uses multiple approaches that combine geographic information systems to analyze secondary and primary datasets. The results reveal that foreign nationals are spatially clustered in some parts of the metropolis, especially within a 7 km radius of Minato city. The densities in these areas alter the earthquake community vulnerability levels from 1.23% to 2.8% and from 5.42% to 13.46%, respectively. Although only 11% of foreign residents are prepared for any disaster, there is a high sense of interaction amongst them and Japanese nationals, which almost eliminates isolation within communities. This study therefore proposes the utilization of some of these attributes in mobilizing specifically targeted evacuation procedures, management of evacuation centers, and disaster risk information dissemination.

Discussion on the Unified Survey and Evaluation of Cultivated Land Quality at County Scale for China’s 3rd National Land Survey: A Case Study of Wen County, Henan Province

Under the task requirements of China’s 3rd national land survey on the grade determination of cultivated land, research on a reasonable and unified survey and evaluation system of cultivated land quality (CLQ) is of great importance. From the three dimensions of agricultural climate, production potential, and health status components of cultivated land, six factors are selected in this study to construct a set of simple, practicable, and operable county-level CLQ survey and evaluation system. These factors are climate conditions of cultivated land, soil characteristics, tillage conditions, the attributes of cultivated land type, environmental conditions, and biological activity. The developed survey and evaluation system meets the demands of national engineering for the inclusion and coordination of multiple departments based on the current evaluation system and evaluation methodology of all relevant land administrative departments. Wen County, Henan Province is used for field verification and evaluation. Results demonstrate that the average quality index of cultivated land in Wen County is 2196.33, ranging from 660.70 to 2802.96 with the largest area of the first-class and second-class land accounting for 20.98% and 52.61% of the county’s cultivated land, respectively; the third-class and fourth-class land, 12.63% and 13.78%. The obvious regional differentiation characteristics are presented along the boundary of Qingfengling with the quality of northern cultivated land higher than that in the south. The comparison with the results of the national utilization gradation in 2018 infers that they are in accordance with the distribution of CLQ, which bears a significant positive correlation trend with the measured grain output of the field. The constructed evaluation system serves as a rewarding attempt of a unified survey and evaluation of CLQ at the county scale to reflect the production capacity of local crops, realize the sharing of data platforms, save manpower and capital investment, improve the practical connection of supervision and management of cultivated land protection in different departments, and meet the requirements of current cultivated land protection and management.