Chapter 4
Demographic Change and Land Use
Jens Hoffmann
Abstract Demographic change is increasingly being described as one of the central
factors of human influence on land-use change. But do changes in population size
and composition directly effect changes in land use? These reflections prompted
the author and two colleagues to conduct a study aimed at (a) finding answers to
the questions of whether and to what degree clear correlations between demographic
change and observable land-use changes could be found in the existing literature, and
(b) establishing what this means for regional studies and regional development policies. After presenting the methodological approach, the current state of knowledge
regarding correlations between demographic change and land-use change is reflected
and will finally be followed by conclusions and the need for further research.
Keywords Land use · Demographic change · Impact
4.1 Does Demographic Change Cause Changes in Land
Use?
Aside from natural processes, it is the many and varied demands that people make
on land that lead to changes in land cover and land use. The drivers of change in land
cover and land use are wide-ranging, complex, and overlapping, as are the effects of
those changes. Drivers vary depending on the location, time frame, and institutional
architecture of the human–environment system under observation. Some drivers have
long-term impacts that unfold slowly while others trigger rapid and visible changes.
(McNeill et al. 1994; Lambin et al. 2001; Lambin and Geist 2006).
According to Lambin et al. (2001), the debate on drivers of land-use change
is dominated by simplifications and even myths that affect concepts, values, and
decisions in politics and policies shaping land use.
J. Hoffmann (B)
Naturschutz und Landnutzungsplanung (FB LG), University of Applied Sciences
Neubrandenburg, Brodaer Straße 2, 17033 Neubrandenburg, Germany
e-mail: jenshoffmann@hs-nb.de
© The Author(s) 2021
T. Weith et al. (eds.), Sustainable Land Management in a European Context,
Human-Environment Interactions 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50841-8_4
63
Demographic Change and Land Use
Jens Hoffmann
Abstract Demographic change is increasingly being described as one of the central
factors of human influence on land-use change. But do changes in population size
and composition directly effect changes in land use? These reflections prompted
the author and two colleagues to conduct a study aimed at (a) finding answers to
the questions of whether and to what degree clear correlations between demographic
change and observable land-use changes could be found in the existing literature, and
(b) establishing what this means for regional studies and regional development policies. After presenting the methodological approach, the current state of knowledge
regarding correlations between demographic change and land-use change is reflected
and will finally be followed by conclusions and the need for further research.
Keywords Land use · Demographic change · Impact
4.1 Does Demographic Change Cause Changes in Land
Use?
Aside from natural processes, it is the many and varied demands that people make
on land that lead to changes in land cover and land use. The drivers of change in land
cover and land use are wide-ranging, complex, and overlapping, as are the effects of
those changes. Drivers vary depending on the location, time frame, and institutional
architecture of the human–environment system under observation. Some drivers have
long-term impacts that unfold slowly while others trigger rapid and visible changes.
(McNeill et al. 1994; Lambin et al. 2001; Lambin and Geist 2006).
According to Lambin et al. (2001), the debate on drivers of land-use change
is dominated by simplifications and even myths that affect concepts, values, and
decisions in politics and policies shaping land use.
J. Hoffmann (B)
Naturschutz und Landnutzungsplanung (FB LG), University of Applied Sciences
Neubrandenburg, Brodaer Straße 2, 17033 Neubrandenburg, Germany
e-mail: jenshoffmann@hs-nb.de
© The Author(s) 2021
T. Weith et al. (eds.), Sustainable Land Management in a European Context,
Human-Environment Interactions 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50841-8_4
63