CONURB – CCMESI

Project title: Conceptualizing urbanization as driver of agricultural land abandonment

Project number: PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2016-1156

Contract No.: 65/2018

Funding body: The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI)

Budget: 297.485,00 RON

Period: 2018-2020

Team

Simona R. Gradinaru – Project Leader
Cristian Ioan Ioja – Mentor

Summary

The United Nations` New Urban Agenda and recent reports of the European Environmental Agency stress the need for action towards the efficient use of land through sustainable planning of urban regions. The special issues of Science journal – Urban Planet (2016) emphasizes the urgency of studying urbanization by focusing on linkages with agricultural systems. Rapid urbanization and agricultural land abandonment are the most pressing issues, affecting human society, natural and agro- ecosystems. One of the difficulties in conceptualizing urbanization as driver of abandonment is that researches require multi-scalar and multi-dimensional approaches. Understanding urbanization – land abandonment connections should be based on integrated methods from Land change science and Spatial planning. The project aims is to conceptualize urbanization as driver of land abandonment, by determining the role of urbanization as spatially explicit driver of abandonment, including the role of socio-economic and political factors, including the role of spatial planning. Elements of originality and innovation derive from integrated approach of urbanization, spatial assessment of factors` contribution to land abandonment, improving the knowledge about coherence of spatial planning instruments, application of grounded theory methods in land change studies, transfer of state-of-the-art methods in spatial to planning evaluation. The project proposes and adapts cutting edge methods in the fields of Land change science and Spatial planning.

Aim

The CONURB project aims to conceptualize urbanization as driver of land abandonment.

Work hypothesis

The central hypothesis of this proposed research is that (i) local manifestations of urbanization as driver of agricultural land abandonment in urban regions can be revealed through spatially explicit analysis which incorporate social, economic, environmental and political factors. Among them, planning as political factor, can play a decisive role in through (ii) planning instruments which insufficiently promote efficient use of land, and (iii) planning practices which can amplify the process of abandonment.

Objectives

Project objectives start with determining the role of urbanization as spatially explicit driver of abandonment by analysing socio-economic, and political factors (O1). Then, we evaluate the ability of current planning instruments to promote efficient use of urban land (O2). Finally, we predict the contribution of planning to future patterns of abandonment (O3).

Main results

Articles

Grădinaru S.R, Triboi R., Iojă C.I., Artmann M. (2018) Contribution of agricultural activities to urban sustainability: insights from pastoral practices in Bucharest and its peri-urban area. Habitat International, 82, 62-71.
Hersperger A.M., Bürgi M., Wende W., Bacău S., Grădinaru S.R. (2019) Does landscape play a role in strategic spatial planning of European urban regions? Landscape and Urban Planning 194.
Grădinaru S.R., Fan P., Iojă C.I., Niță M.R., Suditu B., Hersperger A.M. (2020) Impact of national policies on patterns of built-up development: an assessment over three decades. Land Use Policy 94: 104510.
Grădinaru S.R., Iojă C.I., Vânău G.O., Onose D.A. (2020) Multi-Dimensionality of and transformations: from definition to perspectives on land abandonment. Carpathian Journal or Earth and Environmental Sciences 15 (1):167 – 177.
Hersperger A.M., Grădinaru S. R., & Siedentop S. (2020). Towards a better understanding of land conversion at the urban-rural interface: planning intentions and the effectiveness of growth management. Journal of Land Use Science, 1-8.

Conferences

Grădinaru S.R, Niță M., Iojă C.I., Badiu D. – Evaluarea rolului abandonului activităților agricole în diminuarea capacității de furnizare a hranei în zonele urbane și peri-urbane. Geography in the Romanian Centenary Conference, 17-18 Noiembrie, 2018, Bucuresti, Romania.
Grădinaru S.R., Iojă C.I., Niță M., Badiu D. – Potential of abandoned agricultural land for food provision in urban settings, IALE World Congress, 1-5 iulie 2019, Milano, Italia.
Grădinaru S.R., Iojă C.I., Popa A.M. – Changing visions: the impact of regional and county planning on land changes in Bucharest urban region, IALE World Congress, 1-5 iulie 2019, Milano, Italia.
Grădinaru S.R, Iojă C., Niță M.R. – Coupling spatial planning and food provision in urban regions : mismatches and potential. ECOSMART International Conference – Environment at a CrossrOads: SMART approaches for a sustainable future. Septembrie 5-8, 2019, Bucuresti, România.
Grădinaru S.R, Iojă C.I, Popa A.M. – Impact of spatial planning on urban land changes: a multi-level assessment from local to regional planning. ECOSMART International Conference – Environment at a CrossrOads: SMART approaches for a sustainable future. Septembrie 5-8, 2019, Bucuresti, România.
Grădinaru S.R., Fan P., Iojă C.I., Niță M.R, Hersperger A. – Planning for urban built-up development at national level: linking policy and patterns in Romania, 4th Open Science Meeting 2019, GLP-OSM, 24-26 Aprilie, Berna, Elveția.
Grădinaru S.R., Iojă C.I., Niță M.R. – Impact of national policy sequencing on patterns of development. Insights from Romania, Socio-Ecological Practice Research for Sustainable Landscape Governance, 6-8 Septembrie, Romania, București

Organization of scientific events

Addressing the challenges of the Anthropocene with strategic planning: novel ways to couple ecological sciences and territorial governance Symposium, 1-5 July 2019, IALE World Congress, Milan, Italy; co-organizers: Anna Hersperger (WSL, Switzerland), Beatriz Pieri Daunt (Sao Paolo University, Brasil)

Reports