IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v11y2022i5p602-d797789.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“It Is a Total Drama”: Land Use Conflicts in Local Land Use Actors’ Experience

Author

Listed:
  • Meike Fienitz

    (Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany)

  • Rosemarie Siebert

    (Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany)

Abstract

As land is limited, conflicts between land uses, and, consequently, conflicts between land users about land use inevitably arise. However, how these land use conflicts affect local land use actors has remained underexplored. The objective of this paper is to provide a broad, cross-sectoral overview of land use conflicts as perceived by local land use actors and to explore the actors’ experiences with these conflicts. We conducted 32 semistructured interviews with key land use actors (mayors, local agencies, interest groups, local boards, businesses) in the urban-rural fringe region of Schwerin, Germany. We then applied a qualitative text analysis to identify the region’s most relevant conflicts across all land use sectors (agriculture, settlement, infrastructure, forestry, conservation, tourism, industry, etc.) and their impacts on local actors’ daily experiences. The results show that local actors are aware of many diverse land use conflicts, most frequently regarding land uses for housing, environmental/species conservation, and traffic. Moreover, local actors report these conflicts as relevant to their daily work, and many perceive the conflicts as a strain. Conflicts impede land management processes; they tie up resources, are often perceived as complex, and can be experienced as highly stressful—as summed up in an interviewee’s conclusion: “It is a total drama”. Thus, land use conflicts play an important and mostly negative role in the experiences of land use actors. These findings fill current gaps in the literature on land use conflicts regarding the types of conflicts about which actors are aware and the consequences of these conflicts. The results also underline the relevance of addressing conflicts in land use planning and governance, the need for appropriate conflict management, and the necessity of providing local actors with sufficient resources to deal with land use conflicts. The paper further identifies some starting points so conflicts can enhance rather than impede communal life in rural areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Meike Fienitz & Rosemarie Siebert, 2022. "“It Is a Total Drama”: Land Use Conflicts in Local Land Use Actors’ Experience," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-20, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:5:p:602-:d:797789
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/5/602/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/5/602/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Grimble, Robin & Wellard, Kate, 1997. "Stakeholder methodologies in natural resource management: a review of principles, contexts, experiences and opportunities," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 173-193, October.
    2. repec:dau:papers:123456789/12867 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Habibullah Magsi & Andre Torr & Yansui Liu & M. Javed Sheikh, 2017. "Land Use Conflicts in the Developing Countries: Proximate Driving Forces and Preventive Measures," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 56(1), pages 19-30.
    4. Habibullah Magsi & André Torre & Yansui Liu & Muhammad Muhammad Javed Sheikh, 2017. "Land use conflicts in the developing countries: proximate driving forces and preventive measures," Post-Print hal-02619350, HAL.
    5. Mariana Nae & Liliana Dumitrache & Bogdan Suditu & Elena Matei, 2019. "Housing Activism Initiatives and Land-Use Conflicts: Pathways for Participatory Planning and Urban Sustainable Development in Bucharest City, Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-26, November.
    6. Jin, Gui & Chen, Kun & Wang, Pei & Guo, Baishu & Dong, Yin & Yang, Jun, 2019. "Trade-offs in land-use competition and sustainable land development in the North China Plain," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 36-46.
    7. Jiang, Song & Meng, Jijun & Zhu, Likai, 2020. "Spatial and temporal analyses of potential land use conflict under the constraints of water resources in the middle reaches of the Heihe River," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    8. Kienast, Felix & Huber, Nica & Hergert, Rico & Bolliger, Janine & Moran, Lorena Segura & Hersperger, Anna M., 2017. "Conflicts between decentralized renewable electricity production and landscape services – A spatially-explicit quantitative assessment for Switzerland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 397-407.
    9. Meike Fienitz & Rosemarie Siebert, 2021. "Urban versus Rural? Conflict Lines in Land Use Disputes in the Urban–Rural Fringe Region of Schwerin, Germany," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-15, July.
    10. Kim, Minjee, 2020. "Upzoning and value capture: How U.S. local governments use land use regulation power to create and capture value from real estate developments," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    11. Hjalager, Anne-Mette, 2020. "Land-use conflicts in coastal tourism and the quest for governance innovations," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. David Jensen & Timothy Baird & Gary Blank, 2019. "New landscapes of conflict: land-use competition at the urban–rural fringe," Landscape Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 418-429, May.
    13. Petrescu-Mag, Ruxandra Mălina & Petrescu, Dacinia Crina & Azadi, Hossein & Petrescu-Mag, Ioan Valentin, 2018. "Agricultural land use conflict management—Vulnerabilities, law restrictions and negotiation frames. A wake-up call," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 600-610.
    14. Aznar-Sánchez, José A. & Piquer-Rodríguez, María & Velasco-Muñoz, Juan F. & Manzano-Agugliaro, Francisco, 2019. "Worldwide research trends on sustainable land use in agriculture," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    15. Yasmi, Yurdi & Kelley, Lisa C. & Enters, Thomas, 2013. "Community–outsider conflicts over forests: Perspectives from Southeast Asia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 21-27.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Czarnecki, Adam & Milczarek-Andrzejewska, Dominika & Widła-Domaradzki, Łukasz & Jórasz-Żak, Anna, 2023. "Conflict dynamics over farmland use in the multifunctional countryside," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Yanbo, Qu & Shilei, Wang & Yaya, Tian & Guanghui, Jiang & Tao, Zhou & Liang, Meng, 2023. "Territorial spatial planning for regional high-quality development – An analytical framework for the identification, mediation and transmission of potential land utilization conflicts in the Yellow Ri," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Guanglong Dong & Yibing Ge & Haiwei Jia & Chuanzhun Sun & Senyuan Pan, 2021. "Land Use Multi-Suitability, Land Resource Scarcity and Diversity of Human Needs: A New Framework for Land Use Conflict Identification," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, September.
    4. Fienitz, Meike & Siebert, Rosemarie, 2023. "Latent, collaborative, or escalated conflict? Determining causal pathways for land use conflicts," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    5. Mahsa Mesgar & Diego Ramirez-Lovering & Mohamed El-Sioufi, 2021. "Tension, Conflict, and Negotiability of Land for Infrastructure Retrofit Practices in Informal Settlements," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-15, November.
    6. Cieślak, Iwona, 2019. "Identification of areas exposed to land use conflict with the use of multiple-criteria decision-making methods," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    7. Yanru Zhao & Xiaomin Zhao & Xinyi Huang & Jiaxin Guo & Guohui Chen, 2022. "Identifying a Period of Spatial Land Use Conflicts and Their Driving Forces in the Pearl River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Fazeelat Rehman & Abdullah Khan, 2022. "Environmental Impacts of Urbanization Encroachment in the Lowlands of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, September.
    9. Amir H. Aghmashhadi & Samaneh Zahedi & Azadeh Kazemi & Christine Fürst & Giuseppe T. Cirella, 2022. "Conflict Analysis of Physical Industrial Land Development Policy Using Game Theory and Graph Model for Conflict Resolution in Markazi Province," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, March.
    10. Zilang Cheng & Yanjun Zhang & Lingzhi Wang & Lanyi Wei & Xuying Wu, 2022. "An Analysis of Land-Use Conflict Potential Based on the Perspective of Production–Living–Ecological Function," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-20, May.
    11. Meike Fienitz & Rosemarie Siebert, 2021. "Urban versus Rural? Conflict Lines in Land Use Disputes in the Urban–Rural Fringe Region of Schwerin, Germany," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-15, July.
    12. Belén López-Felices & José A. Aznar-Sánchez & Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz & María Piquer-Rodríguez, 2020. "Contribution of Irrigation Ponds to the Sustainability of Agriculture. A Review of Worldwide Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-18, July.
    13. Elizabeth Allen & Chad Kruger & Fok-Yan Leung & Jennie Stephens, 2013. "Diverse Perceptions of Stakeholder Engagement within an Environmental Modeling Research Team," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 3(3), pages 343-356, September.
    14. Parnphumeesup, Piya & Kerr, Sandy A., 2011. "Stakeholder preferences towards the sustainable development of CDM projects: Lessons from biomass (rice husk) CDM project in Thailand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3591-3601, June.
    15. Alfano, Vincenzo & De Simone, Elina & D’Uva, Marcella & Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio, 2022. "Exploring motivations behind the introduction of tourist accommodation taxes: The case of the Marche region in Italy," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    16. Edossa, D. C. & Babel, M. S. & Das Gupta, A. & Awulachew, Seleshi Bekele, 2005. "Indigenous systems of conflict resolution in Oromia, Ethiopia," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    17. Enxiang Cai & Weiqiang Chen & Hejie Wei & Jiwei Li & Hua Wang & Yulong Guo & Xinwei Feng, 2020. "The coupling characteristics of population and residential land in rural areas of China and its implications for sustainable land use," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 646-656, July.
    18. Gillespie, Stuart & van den Bold, Mara, 2015. "Stories of change in nutrition: A tool pool:," IFPRI discussion papers 1494, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Wenfeng Chen & Dan Liu & Tianyang Zhang & Linna Li, 2023. "Exploring the Determinants of the Urban–Rural Construction Land Transition in the Yellow River Basin of China Based on Machine Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-24, January.
    20. Maria Rosaria Guarini & Pierluigi Morano & Alessandro Micheli & Francesco Sica, 2021. "Public-Private Negotiation of the Increase in Land or Property Value by Urban Variant: An Analytical Approach Tested on a Case of Real Estate Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-30, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:5:p:602-:d:797789. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.