Advancing Sustainability through Land-Related Approaches: Theoretical Foundations and Empirical Investigations

The aim of this reprint is to immerse the reader in the latest scholarly advancements at the intersections between sustainability science and various land-related sciences (e.g., land system science, landscape ecology, natural resource management, geography, public administration, etc.); furthermore, it aims to illustrate how these fragmented research intersections form a coherent research field with a unique niche for producing actionable sustainability knowledge. The featured contributions cover diverse topics such as farmland protection, farmland use efficiency, the spatial justice of urban green spaces, landscape ecological security, agro-farmland sustainability, sustainability dynamics of rural land systems, challenges amid coupled urban growth and shrinkage, changing paradigms of sustainable urban fringe systems, spatial governance of rural-urban systems, and the under-researched governance of marine space. These seemingly distinct topics fall into four complementary land-based governance levers (i.e., rebuilding capital stocks, redirecting interaction flows, reforming governance architectures, and re-/co-piloting sustainability transitions) for advancing weak/strong sustainability from the local to the global scale. Each study offers either empirical evidence or theoretical insight-often both-that collectively reveals how land is not just a passive substrate but a powerful governance toolbox that merits timely recognition for achieving sustainability. This reprint serves as both a reference and a call to action for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to harness the full potential of land-related approaches.