Land Use Change

Course Objective

The interactions between earth and economics that steer changes in land

use are central to this course. Socio-economic processes, spatial policy

and bio-physical conditions determine the way humans use the surface of

the earth. These driving forces are active at various scale levels and

they are often interrelated, making the analysis of land-use change a

complex issue. Moreover, changes in land use (in)directly affect the

social and physical environment in which humans live, creating feedback

loops in the dynamics of land-use change. In order to understand the

mechanisms of change and the impact of policies, researchers and

practitioners have turned their attention to formulating models that

simulate land-use dynamics. These land-use change models help us to

understand the characteristics and interdependencies of the components

that constitute spatial systems, provide valuable insights into possible future land-use configurations and develop policies that contribute to sustainable land use.

This course introduces students to the methods and tools that provide

insight in the most important forces that influence land-use dynamics

and allows students to independently apply this knowledge to analyse

actual changes, explain these and simulate potential future land-use

patterns. Ample attention will be paid to the societal application of this knowledge in addressing current sustainability challenges and contribute to spatial planning initiatives related to, for example, climate change, open space preservation

and biodiversity.

Course Content

Studies of land-use change incorporate concepts and knowledge from a
wide range of disciplines. Geography, as a spatial science, contributes
significantly to the understanding of land-use change whilst demography
and economics help explain underlying trends. Model building relies
heavily on mathematics and (geographical) information science, but also
includes many elements from the softer sciences, such as management
studies and environmental science. This course offers a cross-sectional
overview of methods, tools and current research progress in the analysis
of land-use change. See the course pages on Canvas for more information.

Additional Information Teaching Methods

The course consists of 8*2 hours of lecturing, 8*2 hours supervised
practical sessions and a final 4 hour interactive session in which the
analysis and simulation of land-use change will be explained, practised
and discussed. Outside these scheduled hours students will need
additional time to finalise the assignments and independently read
scientific literature. As the course only takes four weeks, students are
expected to be busy with it full time. Past experiences have taught that
combinations with other activities often lead to the missing of
deadlines and insufficient results.

Method of Assessment

Written examination and active participation in the practical sessions.
The assessment will be based on a written final examination (50%) and
the marks for the practical assignments (50%). For each of these
components students should obtain a mark of 5.5 or higher.

Literature

Several chapters from the book: Modelling land-use change, Springer,
ISBN 9781402064845 (paperback) digitally available through Canvas. In
addition various scientific papers have to be read that will also be
made available through Canvas.

Additional Information Target Audience

The course stresses the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in
analysing land use change and introduces concepts, methods and tools
that can be relevant to a wide range of students. This course is
intended for students in the third year of the Earth and Economics
Bachelor programme and is, furthermore, part of the national GI-minor
and several VU-minor programmes. It is open to others interested in the
topic that meet the entry requirements.

Recommended background knowledge

The course makes use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), statistics and computational models and requires some practical experience in using GIS (e.g. QGIS). The course is not only about using GIS, however, and also requires some proficiency in using other software tools, an interest in understanding land-use change processes and the ability to translate this understanding into quantitative rules.