Amid intensifying climate change and rapid urbanization, urban ecosystems face unprecedented disturbances. Enhancing urban ecological resilience (UER) is thus a key governance issue. The explosive growth of digital finance (DF) has reshaped capital flows, but its ecological effects are dynamic and stage-specific. This study uses a dynamic nonlinear model to systematically explore the DF-UER relationship. The results reveal that: (1) There exists a U-shaped relationship between DF and UER. In the early stage, DF may negatively impact UER; however, Whereas as DF matures, it positively influences UER, with robust results from various tests. (2) Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the U-shaped relationship between DF and UER is more pronounced in smart city pilot cities, high government ecological attention cities, and cities with a high degree of market integration. (3) Mechanism tests reveal that DF has a U-shaped impact on green capital allocation, renewable energy technology innovation, and industrial structure optimization, consequently leading to a U-shaped effect on UER. (4) Fiscal decentralization and financial regulation strengthen the U-shaped relationship, whereas artificial intelligence tends to weaken it and may even reverse this trend. These findings point out the possible structural friction of DF, and provide valuable insights for supporting China and other economies to balance financial expansion and ecological security.
A decentralised Web3 framework for ecological landscape Design in Urban Parks Based on AI-aided Virtual Interaction. The framework links multi-source park data, a spatial ecological graph, AI co-design, and smart-contract governance so that design states, feedback records, and voting outcomes remain verifiable, with large scene assets stored off-chain. After ten iterations of the three renewal modes, its composite ecological benefits index was 0.95, with a mean habitat suitability value of 0.89 for all six parks; There was a relatively average gain rate of +56% in visitor satisfaction and +50% in carbon storage between new and old buildings. At the peak of five thousand simultaneous user access, the system's response time per unit of operation were respectively eight-two (ms), four-hundred-eighty-nine (-81%), forty-seven-fortytwo-six(-77%). Ablation test results show: without consensus confirmation, eco-enforcement and virtual reinforcement the effectiveness decreased by 4.8-12.7 per cent. Although the form is not perfect yet; still provides an operational path to join ecological Design and participatory Governance.
The Vjosa River Basin, located in the heart of the Balkans, is one of Europe's last free-flowing wild rivers comprising a large number of pristine habitat types with a wealth of biodiversity. Widespread degradation of the forest ecosystem and unsustainable land use due to logging and livestock farming have led to an urgent need for effective conservation planning and sustainable management. This study applies the Ecosystem Service Opportunity (ESO) framework to provide a diagnosis of the social-ecological context and the current institutional and legal frameworks governing the Vjosa River in Permet area and its surroundings. Based on 15 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from local government, NGOs, and a national government agency, we identify opportunities for policy and finance instruments to encourage ecosystem conservation and sustainable livelihoods. The results are compared to Integrated Management Plan (IMP) for the Vjosa Wild River National Park. Our results align with the IMP approach in several strategic areas (i.e., stronger law enforcement and patrolling, regulating illegal livestock grazing, improved staff management and collaboration between local agencies, incorporating traditional knowledge in conservation strategies), but further emphasizes the need for action beyond national park boundaries, decentralization with stronger municipal involvement, establishment of a collaborative platform, and the diversification of funding initiatives.
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Land Use and Ecosystem Services
Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
As the climate crisis intensifies and urban populations swell, megacities face compounding threats from carbon emissions, urban heat islands (UHIs), and ecosystem degradation. While nature-based solutions (NbS) offer a promising response through ecological restoration and carbon sequestration, current NbS deployments are often fragmented, non-adaptive, and lack quantitative optimization. This research presents a cutting-edge, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven architecture that operationalizes NbS through a scalable, data-intensive framework. It integrates deep learning (DL) for satellite-derived land classification, graph neural networks (GNNs) for spatial co-benefit mapping, and reinforcement learning (RL) with dynamic reward weighting to optimize intervention strategies in real time. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and ecosystem service valuation modules are embedded to ensure holistic, cross-sectoral impacts. The architecture is deployed in a high-resolution case study of Dhaka, Bangladesh, a climate-vulnerable megacity, achieving over 8,500 metric tons of modeled annual carbon sequestration, 2.1°C reduction in UHI intensity, and quantifiable gains in urban biodiversity and flood mitigation. The system ingests multi-source data, including Sentinel-2, LiDAR, and CMIP6 climate projections, while leveraging federated learning to ensure decentralized, privacy-preserving optimization across municipal zones. A carbon market compatibility layer, aligned with Verra, UN-REDD+, and Article 6 frameworks, enables eligibility for climate finance and offsets. The approach also integrates social equity metrics and indigenous ecological knowledge to prioritize interventions in marginalized zones. This work delivers a first-of-its-kind decision-support platform for AI-optimized NbS that is globally scalable, policy-aligned, and climate-finance ready. It represents a paradigm shift from heuristic-based planning to algorithmically adaptive ecosystem engineering, accelerating progress toward net-zero emissions, SDG convergence, and resilient urban futures. The framework is poised to inform urban sustainability strategies worldwide, offering a replicable model for AI-governed environmental transformation in the age of planetary emergency.
Land serves as a crucial repository of resource elements, and enhancing the green use efficiency of urban land (GUEUL) is essential for attaining sustainable development. Based on 296 cities in China from 2006 to 2022, this study explored the relationship between land system innovation and GUEUL by integrating multi-source data, ArcGIS analysis, the EBM-DEA model, and the DID model, and elucidating the temporal trend and spatial utilization characteristics of GUEUL in China. Based on the natural experimental scenario of the pilot reform of China’s urban construction land use approval system, this study finds through in-depth analysis of the double-difference model that the vertical transfer of land approval authority has fundamentally optimized the development pattern of GUEUL, and that this positive impact is mainly reflected in two dimensions: on the one hand, it reduces the systematic transaction costs, and on the other hand, it enhances the density of industrial spatial agglomeration. Second, the lower the initial level of infrastructure and the lower the degree of dependence on land finance, the more significant the decentralization of land approval power in the promotion of GUEUL. Currently, China is undergoing a swift phase of urbanization and industrialization, and this study provides policy support for improving the comprehensive efficiency of green land use and promoting high-quality and sustainable development of the region.
Heiko Leonhard, Maximilian Nagl, Wolfgang Schaefers
Purpose As blockchain-based virtual worlds gain prominence within the emerging metaverse and Web3, numerous global companies and investors are buying purely virtual land to explore new business potentials and capitalize on digital assets. Given the similarities to physical real estate, this study examines the dynamics of the secondary market for virtual land and relates its returns to those of physical real estate. Design/methodology/approach Using transaction-level data from a prominent virtual land platform, the authors construct a virtual land market index based on repeat sales index methodology from traditional real estate studies. Wavelet coherence analysis is employed to examine the dynamic correlation between virtual land and various physical real estate market returns. The determinants of this correlation are estimated using stepwise regression analysis. A portfolio analysis explores the implications of adding virtual land to traditional asset portfolios. Findings The correlation between virtual and physical real estate market returns is generally low, reaching its lowest during the Covid-19 lockdowns from 2020 to 2022. It spikes during acute economic turmoil such as the initial Covid-19 outbreak or interest rate change announcements. The correlation is primarily driven by consumer and economic climate, the price of the virtual economy token and investor attention. Portfolio analysis indicates that virtual land can enhance risk-adjusted returns within a traditional portfolio, particularly when added to a commercial real estate portfolio. Research limitations/implications This study examines a single virtual land market, despite it being the oldest and one of the largest. Given the rapidly evolving nature of virtual worlds, it is crucial to further test the results and include new virtual land platforms as they emerge. Practical implications The findings provide actionable insights on portfolio implications for investors seeking alternative real-estate-like assets in the digital space. Additionally, this study offers strategic guidance for entering the metaverse, including a comprehensive overview of established virtual presences. Originality/value With the advancing digitization of real estate markets, this study is the first to explore the correlation between market returns of virtual land in the metaverse and traditional physical real estate. The findings provide valuable empirical insights for investors, policymakers, entrepreneurs and companies interested in the intersection of digital and traditional property markets.
This paper speculates on using blockchain and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) in agroecological regeneration, focusing on the case of Spain’s Mar Menor. It highlights the ecological challenges of intensive agriculture, drawing on theories like Haraway’s cyborg metaphor and Latour’s actor-network theory to contextualize the crisis within the interplay of human and non-human actors. The study introduces a conceptual blockchain-based prototype to automate ecosystem resilience through DAOs that manage land and agricultural practices. It proposes strategic interventions such as reforestation with nitrogen-fixing trees, cultivating flood-resistant crops, and the creation of new agro-settlements. The paper argues that blockchain technologies can optimize these strategies by enabling precise monitoring and management, thus enhancing soil fertility, sustainable agriculture, and community sustainability. It presents a vision of agroecosystems as resilient, autonomous entities capable of addressing ecological and economic challenges.
Sraddha Suresh Warrier, Rohit Mathew Samuel, Hariprasad Mukundan, N B Sai Shibu · 5 authors
Wetlands are vital ecological systems that face growing risks due to human activities and climatic changes. This study introduces a method for monitoring wetlands, utilising the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain technology. Our approach involves using an Internet of Things (IoT) sensor system to monitor and assess the state of wetlands. Additionally, we actively involve local communities by leveraging blockchain technology. The IoT sensors monitor vital environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, $\mathbf{p H}$, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and conductivity, allowing for immediate data gathering, transmission, and secure storage in the cloud. The integration of blockchain technology enables the facilitation of crowdsourcing, which incentivises users to give useful data regarding wetland conditions. This strategy promotes active participation from the community in environmental preservation, empowering individuals as “citizen sensors.” This paper explains the proposed architecture, consisting of an Internet of Things (IoT) sensor network and an Ethereum blockchain platform. Furthermore, we developed an Ethereum smart contract that evaluates the user data and decides the incentives. We also benchmarked the smart contract, and the test results show that the smart contract is efficient.
The intense exploitation of natural resources, caused mainly by the industrialization process and increasing population growth, is leading to significant losses of ecosystem services and biodiversity. Extreme events occurring more frequently and the worsening of the climate crisis have severely impacted not only ecosystems, but the economy and society. Therefore, various sectors of the economy are beginning to understand that the availability and quality of natural resources and the guarantee of the provision of ecosystem services are essential for maintaining the production process and that financial investments are necessary to ensure that these ecosystem services continue to be provided. This work discusses the payment for environmental services (PSA) mechanism as an opportunity to capture investments from different sources and transfer them to ecosystem service providers, bringing the private sector as a potential financier in contrast to the reality of the mechanism, which has a strong dependence on financing of public power. Through an extensive bibliographic and documentary review, an overview of PSA in the world and in Brazil is presented and the challenges for expanding sources of financing in the country are discussed, which include the regulation of the National Policy for Payment for Environmental Services (PNPSA), legal security for transactions and ensuring that political unforeseen circumstances will not affect projects. Secondly, a comparative analysis is made between the PSA implemented in Espírito Santo and São Paulo. The PSA in Espírito Santo has a robust technical framework, in addition to a structured network of partners, which contributes significantly to the operation strategy and the continuity of the PSA, however, the almost R$100 million invested until 2023 was financed by the Government of Espírito Santo. State. In turn, in the State of São Paulo, the resources available for financing the PSA are raised from multiple sources, with less dependence on public authorities and decentralized management. Using the example of the state of São Paulo, the main challenges for expanding financing in Espírito Santo from sources other than the Government were discussed, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the mechanism.
This report investigates and develops specifications for using blockchain and distributed organizations to enable decentralized delivery and finance of urban infrastructure. The project explores use cases, including: providing urban greening, street or transit infrastructure; services for street beautification, cleaning and weed or graffiti abatement; potential ways of resource allocation ADU; permitting and land allocation; and homeless housing. It establishes a general process flow for this blockchain architecture, which involves: 1) the creation of blocks (transactions); 2) sending these blocks to nodes (users) on the network for an action (mining) and then validation that that action has taken place; and 3) then adding the block to the blockchain. These processes involve the potential for creating new economic value for cities and neighborhoods through proof-of-work, which can be issued through a token (possibly a graphic non-fungible token), certificate, or possible financial reward. We find that encouraging trading of assets at the local level can enable the creation of value that could be translated into sustainable “mining actions” that could eventually provide the economic backstop and basis for new local investment mechanisms or currencies (e.g., local cryptocurrency). These processes also provide an innovative local, distributed funding mechanism for transportation, housing and other civic infrastructure.
The rapid rise in urbanization internationally is both driving and stressing our consumption patterns, including that of land use. Urban sprawl is arguably one of the most important threats to human and nature biodiversity given its reliance upon fossil fuel exploitation and consumption. The need for increasing the density of cities is required to contain urban expansion in land size. However, while the footprint density of cities is increasing, vacant plots are prized and rare in most urban areas. Tradable air rights development is seen as a potential solution to provide developers the option of increasing density while encouraging an emerging urban economy. However, the price speculation of air rights is a danger and counter to a fair and inclusive real estate market. This paper proposes a new model that encourages the trading of time-sensitive air rights through Smart Contracts in the Blockchain as a means of prevention against urban sprawl.
Xinhua Zhu, Yigang Wei, Yani Lai, Yan Li · 6 authors
“Land finance” refers to the key fiscal strategy in which local governments in China generate revenue through land grant premiums and land tax revenues. A burgeoning body of literature has focused on the driving factors of China’s land finance from different aspects including fiscal decentralization, revenue decentralization, competition among local governments, land marketization, infrastructure development, and economic development. However, little research has provided a comprehensive perspective integrating social, economic and institutional aspects to investigate the driving forces of these unique and profound issues in China. This study aims to investigate the driving factors and working mechanism of land finance. A theoretical and empirical model was proposed using soft budget constraint theory and least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The panel data of 35 Chinese major cities were assessed between 2006 and 2015. The empirical results contend the following: (1) the land transfer and fiscal systems provide the key impetus for land financing because the land transfer system forms a stable modality, and the fiscal system is an important incentive for land financing; (2) the effects of the economic development and political system are insignificant; and (3) the political and land systems significantly influence economic development. Our contributions focus on two aspects. Firstly, a comprehensive framework of factors germane to land finance is constructed. Secondly, a new research methodology for land use study is proposed. To the best of our knowledge, the current study is the first to employ the PLS-SEM method to delineate and verify the influence paths between multiple driving factors and land finance in different cities. Hence, research reliability can be improved.
Problem: Critics have problematized infrastructure for its inability to keep pace with the rising social and ecological impacts of urbanization. Researchers identify urban green infrastructure (GI), including urban forests, as an important strategy for providing public goods and increasing resiliency while reducing ecological footprints and social inequity in metropolitan areas; however, realizing these benefits through planning is still uncertain ground, as most contemporary urban GI endeavors in the United States are small, individual projects rather than integrated, community-wide efforts. This underinvestment has left planners with little experience in developing GI at a metropolitan scale. Purpose: We address this deficit in infrastructure planning by studying planning's role in advancing large-scale, urban tree-planting initiatives (TPI) in eight major U.S. cities and one metropolitan county. In this study, we explore stakeholder perspectives on successes and setbacks in TPI planting, stewardship, business, and outreach plans. From these perspectives, we identify possible best practices that can better inform future efforts to plan GI on a metropolitan scale. Methods: From a review of the literature, we identified ideal planning elements researchers and practitioners considered fundamental to well-planned, urban forestry-based GI programs. We interviewed key stakeholders (n = 86) in eight major cities and one metropolitan county (New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Baltimore, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Sacramento, and Salt Lake County), using multiple-choice and open-ended questions to explore their perceptions of TPI successes, failures, and opportunities for improvement. We used this data to compare TPI planning and implementation with ideal urban forestry and GI planning elements, to identify TPI best practices, and to locate TPI program elements such as business and stewardship planning in relation to traditional infrastructure. We discuss these findings in light of opportunities to bring GI into the mainstream of metropolitan infrastructure planning. Results and conclusions: We found that cities employed a spectrum of planning strategies to advance TPI, ranging from highly institutionalized, data-driven initiatives to decentralized, grassroots efforts. Participants viewed TPI as bringing GI to the mainstream; however, uncertainties in funding and long-term stewardship belie this perspective. Lacking access to traditional infrastructure financing, several TPI used creative development and contracting strategies to maintain program funding and momentum, while others stagnated. Additionally, programs lost momentum when mayors who launched TPI were not reelected. Successful underfunded initiatives focused on community-level engagement. However, institutionalized, diverse funding structures and robust, agency-level commitment to maintaining and expanding urban forests were considered most effective in advancing urban forestry-based GI. Overall geographic distribution of TPI, and the relatively sophisticated financial and institutional approaches achieved by New York and Seattle, provide insight into possible national strategies to advance metropolitan-scale GI. Similarly, Los Angeles's and Baltimore's use of focused corporate sponsorship and community engagement to advance underfunded programs could inform international GI efforts. Takeaway for practice: Through large-scale TPI, planners are beginning to engage in planning metropolitan-scale GI as a conscious strategy to address urban ecological issues and deliver public goods. Initiatives benefit from being launched early in an administration's term. Further, detailed, data-driven planting plans, combined with diversified funding sources and the institutionalization of tree-acquisition in the capital budget, can enable TPI to establish a) long-term contracts, b) control over supply chains, and c) stability in recessionary times. Contracting with grassroots and advocacy organizations to perform education and fieldwork can provide means for underfunded programs to maintain momentum toward meeting TPI goals; however, accessing traditional infrastructure financing mechanisms and institutionalizing stewardship plans are fundamental to long-term expansion and maintenance of investments in metropolitan GI. Research support: None.