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Linking socioeconomic drivers to land use and land cover change for sustainable landscape governance a systematic review

Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: Land use and land cover (LULC) change is one of the most environmental issues that impact the ecosystems, biodiversity and sustainable resource management in the world. The pressures have increased on land systems especially in the developing countries because of the rapid socioeconomic development, increase in population and demand of food and natural resources. Despite the large number of literature examining the drivers and effects of LULC change, the contributions of socio-economic drivers and local governance projects to sustainable landscape management is still disjointed in the current literature. This paper seeks to summarize existing literature regarding the socio-economic factors determining LULC change and assess the role of local projects and governance systems that can contribute to the attainment of sustainable landscape results. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework was followed in the implementation of a systematic review approach. In the search, peer-reviewed literature on sustainable land management, socioeconomic causes, and land use change was identified using predefined combinations of keywords, which included land use change, socioeconomic reasons, and sustainable land management in major academic databases, including Scopus. Having implemented the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 43 research articles were selected to be analyzed in detail. The information in the sampled studies was analyzed to determine significant socio-economic forces, governance processes, methodology, and sustainability results of LULC change. The findings indicate that agricultural development, population increase, market demand, and urbanization have been one of the most common reported socio-economic forces affecting land transformation. It is also found that local governance structure, community involvement and decentralized resource management initiatives are significant to enhance sustainable landscape management and reduce environmental degradation. In addition, the technology has increased the ability to control and study the land use dynamics through remote sensing and spatial modeling. All in all, this review shows the relevance of considering socio-economic aspects alongside governance models in order to tackle the issues of LULC change. The study provides important policy insights for sustainable land management and identifies future research priorities for developing integrated approaches to landscape governance and environmental sustainability.
DOI: 10.1007/s42452-026-09445-9
Language: English
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7213761184
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