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As population grows, industries blossom and demand for space increases, cities become the centre point for myriads of challenges for urban administrators. This chapter investigated challenges of urban development, land use changes and environmental impacts resulting from pressure on urban land. The study was primarily qualitative in nature and adopted a case study approach. The city of Ndola was selected for this purpose. Four institutions, namely, Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA), Water Resources Management Agency (WARMA), Kafubu Water and Sewerage Company (KWSC) and Ndola City Council (NCC), were used for data collection. At each institution, one official was purposively selected by management based on their knowledge and experience on the subject. The primary data were collected mainly through semi-structured questionnaires in face-to-face interviews. The chapter concludes that pressure for development land has resulted in increased demand for change of use, allocation and construction in environmentally vulnerable areas such as the Kafubu and Itawa River basins and their tributaries. This has further resulted in serious threats to the environment due to pollution of water sources from domestic and industrial waste. The chapter though argues that tools for overcoming these challenges are already provided for in the legislation, it is the implementation and effective coordination among agencies charged with planning, land allocation, water distribution and protection of the environment, such as ZEMA, WARMA, KWSC and NCC, which is lacking. Considering the foregoing, it is recommended that land and water administrative systems should be improved through among other things, effective consultation between various agencies involved in environmental management, zero tolerance to illegal land allocation and effective implementation of statutes.

The present study assesses the morphological transition and the consequent changes in the use of land observed recently in southern Europe. We analysed the spatial distribution of basic land-use classes (built-up areas, cropland, forests) together with demographic and socioeconomic indicators with the aim to evaluate the differential impact of compact urban expansion and dispersed urbanization on peri-urban farming. Alternating distinct expansion waves over the last 50 years, Athens’ metropolitan region, Greece, was selected as the case study. Although per-capita built-up area was higher in the ‘dispersed’ urban wave compared with the ‘compact’ wave, cropland was the most vulnerable class to urbanization. A high rate of conversion from forests to cropland (in turn abandoned and, finally, developed) was observed since the early 1990s. This process is associated to land fragmentation and soil degradation driven by illegal housing and real estate speculation. Land-use changes are a target for policies mitigating soil consumption and promoting peri-urban agriculture on Mediterranean fringe land.

Purpose – The chapter studies methods of integrating the connection between land use and traffic surrounding rail transit stations. It offers guidance to urban planners about how to arrange transfer facilities scientifically and promote more efficient use of land nearby.

Methodology – The chapter describes studies of station type, station positioning, recommended building floor area ratio (FAR), traffic connection and land use functional demand for five stations on No. 2 Metro Line in Nanjing, determining the traffic connections and layout for the land use surrounding the five stations.

Findings – This study of the integrated connection between land use and transport surrounding rail transit stations will act as a guide to help arrange the building of essential transfer facilities scientifically and help cities to make better use of the scarce amount of urban land available for development. This study also shows that the transport system plays an important part in adjusting the functional layout of land use surrounding rail transit stations.

Social implications – The results of this study will be particularly significant in the integration of urban planning management and transport management. Furthermore, the coordinated interaction between land-use planning, traffic planning and urban design will benefit Chinese cities as they continue to grow throughout the 21st century and beyond.