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Prof. Dr. Anton Van Rompaey
Division of Geography and Tourism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven

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0 GIS
0 Remote Sensing
0 land use change
0 Spatial Modelling
0 migrations

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Short Biography

Anton is a professor Geography. He teaches cartography, landscape analysis and spatial modeling. His research focuses on the causes and consequences of migration and urbanization and the development of novel techniques to monitor, analyse and model land use systems at rural-urban interfaces. He has a special interest in human-environment systems in transition that are characterized by feedbacks loops and tipping points. Anton likes all kinds of outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling, tennis and gardening. He lives in Leuven (Belgium) and is the proud father of two boys and 1 girl.

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Journal article
Published: 25 August 2021 in Geographies
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Rural–urban migration in developing countries is considered to be a key process for sustainable development in the coming decades. On the one hand, rural–urban migration can contribute to the socioeconomic development of a country. On the other hand, it also leads to labor transfer, brain-drain in rural areas, and overcrowded cities where planning is lagging behind. In order to get a better insight into the mechanisms of rural–urban migration in developing countries, this paper analyzes motivations for rural–urban migration from the perspective of rural households in Uganda. A total of 1015 rural households located in southwestern Uganda were surveyed in 2019. A total of 48 percent of these households reported having at least one out-migrant. By means of logistic regression modeling, the likelihood for rural out-migration was assessed using household- and community-level socioeconomic characteristics as predictors. The results show that most out-migrants are from relatively wealthy households with a higher-than-average education level. Typically, these households are located in villages that are well connected with urban centers. Poor households in remote locations send significantly fewer migrants because of their limited access to migration information and poor transport networks. From these findings, the following policy recommendations are made: Firstly, efforts should be made to extend basic social services, including quality education, towards rural areas. Secondly, in order to reduce socially disruptive long-distance migration and the eventual overcrowding and sprawls of major cities, government investments should be oriented towards the upgrading of secondary towns, which can offer rural out-migrants rewarding employment and business opportunities.

ACS Style

Samuel Tumwesigye; Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx; Alfonse Opio; Jean Poesen; Ronald Twongyirwe; Anton Van Rompaey. Who and Why? Understanding Rural Out-Migration in Uganda. Geographies 2021, 1, 104 -123.

AMA Style

Samuel Tumwesigye, Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx, Alfonse Opio, Jean Poesen, Ronald Twongyirwe, Anton Van Rompaey. Who and Why? Understanding Rural Out-Migration in Uganda. Geographies. 2021; 1 (2):104-123.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Samuel Tumwesigye; Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx; Alfonse Opio; Jean Poesen; Ronald Twongyirwe; Anton Van Rompaey. 2021. "Who and Why? Understanding Rural Out-Migration in Uganda." Geographies 1, no. 2: 104-123.

Journal article
Published: 06 August 2021 in Urban Science
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Currently, circa 30% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa resides in cities, and this figure is expected to double in 2040. The recent literature describes the urban expansion processes of African cities in much detail. However, the urbanization wave in Africa also leads to important intra-urban land use dynamics, which have important consequences on the quality of life within existing cities, which has received less attention. This study aims to contribute to these information gaps by (1) analyzing the extent of the urban land use conversion in contrasting urban locations using satellite images for physical criteria-based classifications and (2) assessing the potential consequences of these intra-urban conversions on the quality of life. Intra-urban land use changes were documented based on satellite imagery for the period 2002–2020. Based on some representative attributes, Addis Ababa city was selected for the case study. Urban land use dynamics and population density changes were examined based on the selected case study neighborhoods and randomly identified land parcels in the city, respectively. Urban development strategies and programs that emerged over recent decades had caused intra-urban land use dynamics, which brought significant population density changes. Moreover, these changes have caused an unbalanced distribution of socio-economic amenities across the city.

ACS Style

Amanuel Weldegebriel; Engdawork Assefa; Katarzyna Janusz; Meron Tekalign; Anton Van Rompaey. Spatial Analysis of Intra-Urban Land Use Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). Urban Science 2021, 5, 57 .

AMA Style

Amanuel Weldegebriel, Engdawork Assefa, Katarzyna Janusz, Meron Tekalign, Anton Van Rompaey. Spatial Analysis of Intra-Urban Land Use Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). Urban Science. 2021; 5 (3):57.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Amanuel Weldegebriel; Engdawork Assefa; Katarzyna Janusz; Meron Tekalign; Anton Van Rompaey. 2021. "Spatial Analysis of Intra-Urban Land Use Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)." Urban Science 5, no. 3: 57.

Research article
Published: 10 June 2021 in Development Southern Africa
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Sub-Saharan Africa is rapidly urbanising. This urbanisation may contribute to socio-economic development as more people participate in the urban economy. Nevertheless, rapid urbanisation is not always sustainable. Primary cities often grow fast, leaving secondary towns lagging behind with weaker economies. Viable strategies for sustainable urbanisation may therefore also need to focus on developing secondary towns. Nevertheless, very few studies, hitherto, have assessed the (relative) importance of secondary towns in urbanisation process in Sub-Saharan Africa. We aim to address this gap by studying the patterns and explanatory factors of urban population growth in Uganda. Based on a longitudinal analysis of population rank-size distribution, we show that the population distribution gap between secondary towns and the primary city is widening. Nevertheless, statistical analyses further indicate that secondary towns with above 50 000 inhabitants have the highest population growth rates. This indicates that future investments should aim at upgrading socio-economic infrastructures in secondary towns.

ACS Style

Samuel Tumwesigye; Matthias Vanmaercke; Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx; Alfonse Opio; Jean Poesen; Ronald Twongyirwe; Anton Van Rompaey. Spatial patterns of urbanisation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A case study of Uganda. Development Southern Africa 2021, 1 -21.

AMA Style

Samuel Tumwesigye, Matthias Vanmaercke, Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx, Alfonse Opio, Jean Poesen, Ronald Twongyirwe, Anton Van Rompaey. Spatial patterns of urbanisation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A case study of Uganda. Development Southern Africa. 2021; ():1-21.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Samuel Tumwesigye; Matthias Vanmaercke; Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx; Alfonse Opio; Jean Poesen; Ronald Twongyirwe; Anton Van Rompaey. 2021. "Spatial patterns of urbanisation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A case study of Uganda." Development Southern Africa , no. : 1-21.

Journal article
Published: 24 April 2021 in Land
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Scenic beauty is one of the most-commonly used indicators in the inventory and assessment of geosites for geoconservation, geoheritage management and geotourism development. It is an important driver of tourists to visit natural areas and it also provides support for the protection of natural heritage. Previous studies on scenic beauty mainly focused on landscape preference and physical characteristics of geosites that affect scenic beauty appreciation. The relationships between the scenic beauty of geosites, their scientific value and the geoscience knowledge of tourists has not been empirically investigated in detail. Hence, this study investigates this relationship using 34 geosites from southeastern Spain. For this purpose, 29 respondents with a geoscience background and who all visited the 34 geosites, 43 respondents with a geoscience background but who did not visit the geosites, and 104 respondents with no geoscience background and who did not visit the geosites, participated in a survey. The first group rated the scenic beauty and the scientific value of the geosites based on a direct field visit during which the scientific background of these geosites was given. On the other hand, the latter two groups rated scenic beauty using representative photos of the geosites. A five-point Likert scale was used to rate the scenic beauty and the scientific value of the geosites. We found a significant relationship between the scenic beauty of geosites and their scientific value, and this relationship becomes more significant if the geoscientific knowledge of the respondents increases. One-way ANOVA results indicated that a geoscience background contributed to higher perceived scenic beauty, especially for those geosites that in general were considered as more scenic by all the respondent groups. It was also found that geosites with viewpoints received in general higher scenic beauty and scientific value ratings.

ACS Style

Getaneh Tessema; Jean Poesen; Gert Verstraeten; Anton Van Rompaey; Jan van der Borg. The Scenic Beauty of Geosites and Its Relation to Their Scientific Value and Geoscience Knowledge of Tourists: A Case Study from Southeastern Spain. Land 2021, 10, 460 .

AMA Style

Getaneh Tessema, Jean Poesen, Gert Verstraeten, Anton Van Rompaey, Jan van der Borg. The Scenic Beauty of Geosites and Its Relation to Their Scientific Value and Geoscience Knowledge of Tourists: A Case Study from Southeastern Spain. Land. 2021; 10 (5):460.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Getaneh Tessema; Jean Poesen; Gert Verstraeten; Anton Van Rompaey; Jan van der Borg. 2021. "The Scenic Beauty of Geosites and Its Relation to Their Scientific Value and Geoscience Knowledge of Tourists: A Case Study from Southeastern Spain." Land 10, no. 5: 460.

Journal article
Published: 07 December 2020 in Remote Sensing
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Anthropogenic activity leading to forest structural and functional changes needs specific ecological indicators and monitoring techniques. Since decades, forest structure, composition, biomass, and functioning have been studied with ground-based forest inventories. Nowadays, satellites survey the earth, producing imagery at different spatial and temporal resolutions. However, measuring the ecological state of large extensions of forest is still challenging. To reconstruct the three-dimensional forest structure, the structure from motion (SfM) algorithm was applied to imagery taken by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Structural indicators from UAV-SfM products are then compared to forest inventory indicators of 64 circular plots of 1000 m2 in a subtropical dry forest. Our data indicate that the UAV-SfM indicators provide a valuable alternative for ground-based forest inventory’ indicators of the upper canopy structure. Based on the correlation between ground-based measures and UAV-SfM derived indicators, we can state that the UAV-SfM technique provides reliable estimates of the mean and maximum height of the upper canopy. The performance of UAV-SfM techniques to characterize the undergrowth forest structure is low, as UAV-SfM indicators derived from the point cloud in the lower forest strata are not suited to provide correct estimates of the vegetation density in the lower strata. Besides structural information, UAV-SfM derived indicators, such as canopy cover, can provide relevant ecological information as the indicators are related to structural, functional, and/or compositional aspects, such as biomass or compositional dominance. Although UAV-SfM techniques cannot replace the wealth of data collected during ground-based forest inventories, its strength lies in the three-dimensional (3D) monitoring of the tree canopy at cm-scale resolution, and the versatility of the technique to provide multi-temporal datasets of the horizontal and vertical forest structure.

ACS Style

Beatriz Gobbi; Anton Van Rompaey; Dante Loto; Ignacio Gasparri; Veerle Vanacker. Comparing Forest Structural Attributes Derived from UAV-Based Point Clouds with Conventional Forest Inventories in the Dry Chaco. Remote Sensing 2020, 12, 4005 .

AMA Style

Beatriz Gobbi, Anton Van Rompaey, Dante Loto, Ignacio Gasparri, Veerle Vanacker. Comparing Forest Structural Attributes Derived from UAV-Based Point Clouds with Conventional Forest Inventories in the Dry Chaco. Remote Sensing. 2020; 12 (23):4005.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Beatriz Gobbi; Anton Van Rompaey; Dante Loto; Ignacio Gasparri; Veerle Vanacker. 2020. "Comparing Forest Structural Attributes Derived from UAV-Based Point Clouds with Conventional Forest Inventories in the Dry Chaco." Remote Sensing 12, no. 23: 4005.

Journal article
Published: 21 October 2020 in Remote Sensing
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Sub-Saharan African cities are expanding horizontally, demonstrating spatial patterns of urban sprawl and socioeconomic segregation. An important research gap around the geographies of urban populations is that city-wide analyses mask local socioeconomic inequalities. This research focuses on those inequalities by identifying the spatial settlement patterns of socioeconomic groups within the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (Uganda). Findings are based on a novel dataset, an extensive household survey with 541 households, conducted in Kampala in 2019. To identify different socioeconomic groups, a k-prototypes clustering method was applied to the survey data. A maximum likelihood classification method was applied on a recent Landsat-8 image of the city and compared to the socioeconomic clustering through a fuzzy error matrix. The resulting maps show how different socioeconomic clusters are located around the city. We propose a simple method to upscale household survey responses to a larger study area, to use these data as a base map for further analysis or urban planning purposes. Obtaining a better understanding of the spatial variability in socioeconomic dynamics can aid urban policy-makers to target their decision-making processes towards a more favorable and sustainable future.

ACS Style

Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx; Sam Emelen; Joachim Rymenants; Jac Davis; Peter Verburg; Shuaib Lwasa; Anton Rompaey. Upscaling Household Survey Data Using Remote Sensing to Map Socioeconomic Groups in Kampala, Uganda. Remote Sensing 2020, 12, 3468 .

AMA Style

Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx, Sam Emelen, Joachim Rymenants, Jac Davis, Peter Verburg, Shuaib Lwasa, Anton Rompaey. Upscaling Household Survey Data Using Remote Sensing to Map Socioeconomic Groups in Kampala, Uganda. Remote Sensing. 2020; 12 (20):3468.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx; Sam Emelen; Joachim Rymenants; Jac Davis; Peter Verburg; Shuaib Lwasa; Anton Rompaey. 2020. "Upscaling Household Survey Data Using Remote Sensing to Map Socioeconomic Groups in Kampala, Uganda." Remote Sensing 12, no. 20: 3468.

Journal article
Published: 02 September 2020 in Journal of Land Use Science
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ACS Style

Jasper van Vliet; Torben Birch-Thomsen; Marta Gallardo; Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx; Anna M. Hersperger; Mengmeng Li; Samuel Tumwesigye; Ronald Twongyirwe; Anton van Rompaey. Bridging the rural-urban dichotomy in land use science. Journal of Land Use Science 2020, 15, 585 -591.

AMA Style

Jasper van Vliet, Torben Birch-Thomsen, Marta Gallardo, Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx, Anna M. Hersperger, Mengmeng Li, Samuel Tumwesigye, Ronald Twongyirwe, Anton van Rompaey. Bridging the rural-urban dichotomy in land use science. Journal of Land Use Science. 2020; 15 (5):585-591.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jasper van Vliet; Torben Birch-Thomsen; Marta Gallardo; Lisa-Marie Hemerijckx; Anna M. Hersperger; Mengmeng Li; Samuel Tumwesigye; Ronald Twongyirwe; Anton van Rompaey. 2020. "Bridging the rural-urban dichotomy in land use science." Journal of Land Use Science 15, no. 5: 585-591.

Article
Published: 07 June 2020 in Journal of Land Use Science
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Urbanization leads to a continuous loss of agricultural land, both directly under the form of land take, and indirectly through the use of agricultural land for non-productive rural activities like recreation, horse keeping or hobby farming. These urbanization processes put pressure on farmers, making farming activities harder through reduced agricultural land, negative externalities and the competition for land. To estimate possible future changes, an agricultural agent-based model was combined with spatially explicit urbanization scenarios and with different agricultural subsidizing policies for the case study of Belgium. As a result of an aging farming population and low succession rates, simulations until 2035 showed a continuous decline of farmers in all scenarios; a trend that will continue for as long as not every farmer that quits his activities is replaced. The results also showed that these declines are expected to be higher in the rural-urban fringe.

ACS Style

Veronique Beckers; L. Poelmans; A. Van Rompaey; N. Dendoncker. The impact of urbanization on agricultural dynamics: a case study in Belgium. Journal of Land Use Science 2020, 15, 626 -643.

AMA Style

Veronique Beckers, L. Poelmans, A. Van Rompaey, N. Dendoncker. The impact of urbanization on agricultural dynamics: a case study in Belgium. Journal of Land Use Science. 2020; 15 (5):626-643.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Veronique Beckers; L. Poelmans; A. Van Rompaey; N. Dendoncker. 2020. "The impact of urbanization on agricultural dynamics: a case study in Belgium." Journal of Land Use Science 15, no. 5: 626-643.

Journal article
Published: 21 January 2020 in Water
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This paper aims to develop a method to assess regional water balances using remote sensing techniques. The Boufakrane river watershed in Meknes Region (Morocco), which is characterized by both a strong urbanization and a rural land use change, is taken as a study case. Firstly, changes in land cover were mapped by classifying remote sensing images (Thematic Mapper, Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus and Operational Land Imager) at a medium scale resolution for the years 1990, 2003 and 2018. By means of supervised classification procedures the following land cover categories could be mapped: forests, bare soil, arboriculture, arable land and urban area. For each of these categories a water balance was developed for the different time periods, taking into account changing management and consumption patterns. Finally, the land cover maps were combined with the land cover specific water balances resulting in a total water balance for the selected catchment. The procedure was validated by comparing the assessments with data from water supply stations and the number of licensed ground water extraction pumps. In terms of land use/land cover changes (LULCC), the results showed that urban areas, natural vegetation, arboriculture and cereals increased by 183.74%, 12.55%, 34.99 and 48.77% respectively while forests and bare soils decreased by 78.65% and 16.78% respectively. On the other hand, water consumption has been increased significantly due to the Meknes city growth, the arboriculture expansion and the new crops’ introduction in the arable areas. The increased water consumption by human activities is largely due to reduced water losses through evapotranspiration because of deforestation. Since the major part of the forest in the catchment has disappeared, a further increase of the water consumption by human activities can no longer be offset by deforestation.

ACS Style

Mohammed EL Hafyani; Ali Essahlaoui; Anton Van Rompaey; Meriame Mohajane; Abdellah EL Hmaidi; Abdelhadi El Ouali; Fouad Moudden; Nour-Eddine Serrhini. Assessing Regional Scale Water Balances through Remote Sensing Techniques: A Case Study of Boufakrane River Watershed, Meknes Region, Morocco. Water 2020, 12, 320 .

AMA Style

Mohammed EL Hafyani, Ali Essahlaoui, Anton Van Rompaey, Meriame Mohajane, Abdellah EL Hmaidi, Abdelhadi El Ouali, Fouad Moudden, Nour-Eddine Serrhini. Assessing Regional Scale Water Balances through Remote Sensing Techniques: A Case Study of Boufakrane River Watershed, Meknes Region, Morocco. Water. 2020; 12 (2):320.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mohammed EL Hafyani; Ali Essahlaoui; Anton Van Rompaey; Meriame Mohajane; Abdellah EL Hmaidi; Abdelhadi El Ouali; Fouad Moudden; Nour-Eddine Serrhini. 2020. "Assessing Regional Scale Water Balances through Remote Sensing Techniques: A Case Study of Boufakrane River Watershed, Meknes Region, Morocco." Water 12, no. 2: 320.

Article
Published: 07 August 2019 in Paddy and Water Environment
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In the Northern Vietnamese Mountains, paddy fields are the main source of foods and an important indicator to define wealth in ethnic communities. This paper deals with an application of multilevel model to predict spatial patterns of paddy field productivity according to hierarchical levels such as individual fields, individual households and individual villages. The data on land use and rice productivity gathered in Sa Pa district (Lao Cai province) is used as a calibration and validation dataset. Totally, 60 households owning 136 paddy plots in four villages were interviewed. The results show that in Sa Pa, productivity of paddy fields results from human–environment interactions at different organizational levels of field, household and village. The variables collected at field and household levels play more important role in the effective use of paddy fields than the variables at village level, as they account for resp. 81.2%, 18.7% and 0.1% of the variance in productivity.

ACS Style

Huong Thi Thu Hoang; Anton Van Rompaey; Kim Chi Vu; An Thinh Nguyen; Veerle Vanacker. An application of multilevel model for the analysis of factors influencing paddy field productivity in the Northern Vietnamese Mountains. Paddy and Water Environment 2019, 18, 153 -166.

AMA Style

Huong Thi Thu Hoang, Anton Van Rompaey, Kim Chi Vu, An Thinh Nguyen, Veerle Vanacker. An application of multilevel model for the analysis of factors influencing paddy field productivity in the Northern Vietnamese Mountains. Paddy and Water Environment. 2019; 18 (1):153-166.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Huong Thi Thu Hoang; Anton Van Rompaey; Kim Chi Vu; An Thinh Nguyen; Veerle Vanacker. 2019. "An application of multilevel model for the analysis of factors influencing paddy field productivity in the Northern Vietnamese Mountains." Paddy and Water Environment 18, no. 1: 153-166.

Original article
Published: 25 January 2019 in Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie
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In order to construct a suitable transport policy, based on the needs of the inhabitants and city users, planners have to be aware of the needs of urban residents. In this research, Hägerstrand's space‐time geography is used to understand constraints that individuals from contrasting livelihoods experience regarding their daily mobility in Kampala. To carry out economic activities, both poor and non‐poor face the need to travel, but moving in the city is hampered by congestion and poor walking infrastructure. While non‐poor have the financial and economical flexibility to adjust the time and transport mode of their movements, the poor are constrained by affordability. Space‐time prisms of the movements show that paradoxically the further the distance from the centre, the less movement is undertaken by the non‐poor and more movement by the poor. The policy responses, driven by foreign investments, mainly from China, show that policy circulation plans prevail over tailor‐made solutions.

ACS Style

Katarzyna Janusz; Christian Kesteloot; Karolien Vermeiren; Anton Van Rompaey. Daily Mobility, Livelihoods and Transport Policies in Kampala, Uganda: A Hägerstrandian Analysis. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 2019, 110, 412 -427.

AMA Style

Katarzyna Janusz, Christian Kesteloot, Karolien Vermeiren, Anton Van Rompaey. Daily Mobility, Livelihoods and Transport Policies in Kampala, Uganda: A Hägerstrandian Analysis. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie. 2019; 110 (4):412-427.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Katarzyna Janusz; Christian Kesteloot; Karolien Vermeiren; Anton Van Rompaey. 2019. "Daily Mobility, Livelihoods and Transport Policies in Kampala, Uganda: A Hägerstrandian Analysis." Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 110, no. 4: 412-427.

Original manuscript
Published: 10 January 2019 in Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie
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This paper analyses built‐up area expansion and socioeconomic segregation within the Greater Paramaribo Region, Suriname. Built‐up expansion between 1987 and 2015 was assessed via time‐series analysis of Landsat images. By identifying visible spatial residential characteristics in Google Earth© images, the residential built‐up area was differentiated into rich, middle, middle to low, and poor residences, signifying different socioeconomic groups. Results show that the built‐up expansion of the region is primarily controlled by the distance to the previously built‐up area, city centre, and roads, as well as land price. The observed expansion mainly consisted of middle and middle to low residences. Dissimilarity indices demonstrate an increasing socioeconomic segregation, especially between rich and poor. A business‐as‐usual model simulation for 2030 indicates that this segregation is likely to remain.

ACS Style

Kimberley Fung‐Loy; Anton Van Rompaey; Lisa‐Marie Hemerijckx. Detection and Simulation of Urban Expansion and Socioeconomic Segregation in the Greater Paramaribo Region, Suriname. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 2019, 110, 339 -358.

AMA Style

Kimberley Fung‐Loy, Anton Van Rompaey, Lisa‐Marie Hemerijckx. Detection and Simulation of Urban Expansion and Socioeconomic Segregation in the Greater Paramaribo Region, Suriname. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie. 2019; 110 (3):339-358.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kimberley Fung‐Loy; Anton Van Rompaey; Lisa‐Marie Hemerijckx. 2019. "Detection and Simulation of Urban Expansion and Socioeconomic Segregation in the Greater Paramaribo Region, Suriname." Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 110, no. 3: 339-358.

Journal article
Published: 12 November 2018 in Sustainability
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Involvement of stakeholders in sustainable tourism, particularly in developing countries, is crucial for the success of tourism development. However, its implementation is often criticized for not considering stakeholders’ needs. This study explores tourists’ preferences for tourism activities, designed by local stakeholders, in one of the oldest conserved parks in East Africa—the Menagesha Suba Forest, in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia. The study area is endowed with natural, cultural and historical, yet undeveloped, tourist attractions. The host community benefits little from tourism and is in continual conflict with the park administration. This study aims to provide new insights on potential engagement of stakeholders in sustainable tourism planning. In particular, we explored tourists’ preferences for activities designed by local stakeholders, as well as their preferences concerning the improvement of the park infrastructure. The local community has been engaged in group discussions to design community involvement activities in tourism, while park guest books have been consulted to identify infrastructure improvements suggested by tourists. A survey that embedded a discrete choice experiment was conducted among tourists that visited the Menagesha Suba Forest. Data were analyzed with mixed logit and latent class models. We identified preferences for infrastructure improvement in the park. Tourists’ preferences are heterogeneous and vary with their profile as foreigners, foreign residents, and locals. Furthermore, the study indicates that there is a mismatch between tourists’ preferences and activities designed by the host community for their engagement in tourism. Tourists might be unaware of the importance of such activities for local communities. On the other hand, the findings also imply that increasing host residents’ awareness of tourism and tourists’ preferences is required, prior to tourism activities planning. Hence, sustainable tourism planning and development needs to understand perception gaps between host residents and tourists for its smooth implementation.

ACS Style

Meron Tekalign; Nicole Groot Zevert; Amanuel Weldegebriel; Jean Poesen; Jan Nyssen; Anton Van Rompaey; Lindsey Norgrove; Bart Muys; Liesbet Vranken. Do Tourists’ Preferences Match the Host Community’s Initiatives? A Study of Sustainable Tourism in One of Africa’s Oldest Conservation Areas. Sustainability 2018, 10, 4167 .

AMA Style

Meron Tekalign, Nicole Groot Zevert, Amanuel Weldegebriel, Jean Poesen, Jan Nyssen, Anton Van Rompaey, Lindsey Norgrove, Bart Muys, Liesbet Vranken. Do Tourists’ Preferences Match the Host Community’s Initiatives? A Study of Sustainable Tourism in One of Africa’s Oldest Conservation Areas. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (11):4167.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Meron Tekalign; Nicole Groot Zevert; Amanuel Weldegebriel; Jean Poesen; Jan Nyssen; Anton Van Rompaey; Lindsey Norgrove; Bart Muys; Liesbet Vranken. 2018. "Do Tourists’ Preferences Match the Host Community’s Initiatives? A Study of Sustainable Tourism in One of Africa’s Oldest Conservation Areas." Sustainability 10, no. 11: 4167.

Article
Published: 25 September 2018 in Environment, Development and Sustainability
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In the 1990s, some districts in the Northern Vietnamese highlands were opened for international tourism. The development of tourism was expected to bring a new income source to remote mountain areas. This paper analyzes the association between tourism development, local livelihoods and land cover change at the household level. Sa Pa district was selected as a case study. In 25 rural villages within Sa Pa, 487 households were interviewed. This allowed us to classify rural households in three livelihood types: (1) full-time farming, (2) farming with limited involvement in tourism and (3) farming and major involvement in tourism activities. Next, the association between tourism and land cover change at the household level was quantified. The results show that the introduction of tourism increased the living standard of the ethnic minorities and led to more intensive farming systems with forest regrowth on abandoned fields. Nevertheless, the involvement in tourism is location dependent.

ACS Style

Thi Thu Huong Hoang; Anton Van Rompaey; Patrick Meyfroidt; Gerard Govers; Kim Chi Vu; An Thinh Nguyen; Luc Hens; Veerle Vanacker. Impact of tourism development on the local livelihoods and land cover change in the Northern Vietnamese highlands. Environment, Development and Sustainability 2018, 22, 1371 -1395.

AMA Style

Thi Thu Huong Hoang, Anton Van Rompaey, Patrick Meyfroidt, Gerard Govers, Kim Chi Vu, An Thinh Nguyen, Luc Hens, Veerle Vanacker. Impact of tourism development on the local livelihoods and land cover change in the Northern Vietnamese highlands. Environment, Development and Sustainability. 2018; 22 (2):1371-1395.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Thi Thu Huong Hoang; Anton Van Rompaey; Patrick Meyfroidt; Gerard Govers; Kim Chi Vu; An Thinh Nguyen; Luc Hens; Veerle Vanacker. 2018. "Impact of tourism development on the local livelihoods and land cover change in the Northern Vietnamese highlands." Environment, Development and Sustainability 22, no. 2: 1371-1395.

Journal article
Published: 15 September 2018 in Land
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The ongoing economic pressure on farmers has resulted in lower gross margins, lower income, and a continuous decrease in the number of farmers in large parts of the world. Most remaining farmers upscale their activities by taking over the land of their former competitors, resulting in a decrease in agricultural employment and an increase in average farm size, accompanied by specialisation and new management techniques. Understanding these significant trends and their impact on the land use and environment requires a deeper knowledge of the mechanisms involved and the impacts of different policy measures. These processes are ideally represented through agent-based modelling. Currently, agent-based models are rarely for larger regions. This paper presents ADAM (Agricultural Dynamics through Agent-based Modelling), using it for the case study of Belgium. ADAM was created to obtain insights in past and current agricultural trends and to explore possible effects of policy measures. ADAM simulates the evolution of a farmer population and their farms at a fine scale on the country level. It produces yearly outputs on the number of farms, their size, and the type of farming activity on every parcel. Results show that ADAM is capable of adequately modelling a farmer population according to past trends and that it can be used to explore the results of a business-as-usual scenario, therefore showing the possibility of creating agent-based models for larger scale real-world applications.

ACS Style

Veronique Beckers; Jeroen Beckers; Matthias Vanmaercke; Etienne Van Hecke; Anton Van Rompaey; Nicolas Dendoncker. Modelling Farm Growth and Its Impact on Agricultural Land Use: A Country Scale Application of an Agent-Based Model. Land 2018, 7, 109 .

AMA Style

Veronique Beckers, Jeroen Beckers, Matthias Vanmaercke, Etienne Van Hecke, Anton Van Rompaey, Nicolas Dendoncker. Modelling Farm Growth and Its Impact on Agricultural Land Use: A Country Scale Application of an Agent-Based Model. Land. 2018; 7 (3):109.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Veronique Beckers; Jeroen Beckers; Matthias Vanmaercke; Etienne Van Hecke; Anton Van Rompaey; Nicolas Dendoncker. 2018. "Modelling Farm Growth and Its Impact on Agricultural Land Use: A Country Scale Application of an Agent-Based Model." Land 7, no. 3: 109.

Journal article
Published: 21 July 2018 in Applied Geography
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Understanding of the often complex forest cover change drivers, and the perceived and observed forest cover changes substantially contributes to the sustainable management of tropical forests. This paper aims at developing an integrated view on tropical forest cover change and its drivers by combining the perception of the stakeholders (farmers, forest guards, and forest managers) and five decades forest cover mapping, based on interview and remote sensing respectively, through a case study in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Afforestation and deforestation occurred when law enforcement was stronger and weaker respectively, depending on political regimes. Since 1937 i.e., the early Imperial period, the position of the forest edge has not changed much over time, it rather became sharper. In the late Imperial era (1972–1975), the forest cover declined only by 1.6%. In the subsequent two governments, the socialist and the current federal rule (1975–2014), the forest cover increased by 17%. There was a 3.9% forest cover decline during the transition between the two governments. This pattern of overall net forest cover increase observed by remote sensing data has been correctly perceived by stakeholders. Stakeholders acknowledged the observed forest cover increase, however, they argued that the forest is declining in terms of its quality for several ecosystem services (ES). The ES decline is believed to have resulted from the gradual shift of pure dense indigenous forest to an increasing share of exotic plantations. In the three political regimes, land policy, illegal encroachments, population pressure and social unrest have been the leading drivers of forest cover change. Communities' involvement in forest management activities and sharing benefits were regarded as positive perception of forest management strategies during the federal administration (1993–2007) of the current government by farmers. Among the factors that determine forest management strategies proposed by stakeholders are gender, landholding size, education level and age. Future conservation and development interventions need to consider stakeholders' concerns. Their involvement in forest management is also necessary for improved biodiversity conservation, ecosystem service provision, and social wellbeing.

ACS Style

Meron Tekalign; Charlotte Flasse; Amaury Frankl; Anton Van Rompaey; Jean Poesen; Jan Nyssen; Bart Muys. Forest cover loss and recovery in an East African remnant forest area: Understanding its context and drivers for conservation and sustainable ecosystem service provision. Applied Geography 2018, 98, 133 -142.

AMA Style

Meron Tekalign, Charlotte Flasse, Amaury Frankl, Anton Van Rompaey, Jean Poesen, Jan Nyssen, Bart Muys. Forest cover loss and recovery in an East African remnant forest area: Understanding its context and drivers for conservation and sustainable ecosystem service provision. Applied Geography. 2018; 98 ():133-142.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Meron Tekalign; Charlotte Flasse; Amaury Frankl; Anton Van Rompaey; Jean Poesen; Jan Nyssen; Bart Muys. 2018. "Forest cover loss and recovery in an East African remnant forest area: Understanding its context and drivers for conservation and sustainable ecosystem service provision." Applied Geography 98, no. : 133-142.

Research article
Published: 07 February 2018 in Urban Studies
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An in-depth understanding of the main factors behind built-up development is a key prerequisite for designing policies dedicated to a more efficient land use. Infill development policies are essential to curb sprawl and allow a progressive recycling of low-density areas inherited from the past. This paper examines the controlling factors of built-up expansion and densification processes in Wallonia (Belgium). Unlike the usual urban/built-up expansion studies, our approach considers various levels of built-up densities to distinguish between different types of developments, ranging from low-density extensions (or sprawl) to high-density infill development. Belgian cadastral data for 1990, 2000 and 2010 were used to generate four classes of built-up areas, namely, non-, low-, medium- and high-density areas. A number of socioeconomic, geographic and political factors related to built-up development were operationalised following the literature. We then used a multinomial logistic regression model to analyse the effects of these factors on the transitions between different densities in the two decades between 1990 and 2010. The findings indicate that all the controlling factors show distinctive variations based on density. More specifically, the centrality of zoning policies in explaining expansion processes is highlighted. This is especially the case for high-density expansions. In contrast, physical and neighbourhood factors play a larger role in infill development, especially for dense infill development.

ACS Style

Ahmed Mustafa; Anton Van Rompaey; Mario Cools; Ismaïl Saadi; Jacques Teller. Addressing the determinants of built-up expansion and densification processes at the regional scale. Urban Studies 2018, 55, 3279 -3298.

AMA Style

Ahmed Mustafa, Anton Van Rompaey, Mario Cools, Ismaïl Saadi, Jacques Teller. Addressing the determinants of built-up expansion and densification processes at the regional scale. Urban Studies. 2018; 55 (15):3279-3298.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ahmed Mustafa; Anton Van Rompaey; Mario Cools; Ismaïl Saadi; Jacques Teller. 2018. "Addressing the determinants of built-up expansion and densification processes at the regional scale." Urban Studies 55, no. 15: 3279-3298.

Articles
Published: 08 December 2017 in Journal of Urban Technology
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In this paper, we propose a correction of the Mobility Entropy indicator (ME) used to describe the diversity of individual movement patterns as can be captured by data from mobile phones. We argue that a correction is necessary because standard calculations of ME show a structural dependency on the geographical density of observation points, rendering results biased and comparisons between regions incorrect. As a solution, we propose the Corrected Mobility Entropy (CME). We apply our solution to a French mobile phone dataset with ∼18.5 million users. Results show CME to be less correlated to cell-tower density (r = –0.17 instead of –0.59 for ME). As a spatial pattern of mobility diversity, we find CME values to be higher in suburban regions compared to their related urban centers, while both decrease considerably with lowering urban center sizes. Based on regression models, we find mobility diversity to relate to factors like income and employment. Additionally, using CME reveals the role of car use in relation to land use, which was not recognized when using ME values. Our solution enables a better description of individual mobility at a large scale, which has applications in official statistics, urban planning and policy, and mobility research.

ACS Style

Maarten Vanhoof; Willem Schoors; Anton Van Rompaey; Thomas Ploetz; Zbigniew Smoreda. Comparing Regional Patterns of Individual Movement Using Corrected Mobility Entropy. Journal of Urban Technology 2017, 25, 27 -61.

AMA Style

Maarten Vanhoof, Willem Schoors, Anton Van Rompaey, Thomas Ploetz, Zbigniew Smoreda. Comparing Regional Patterns of Individual Movement Using Corrected Mobility Entropy. Journal of Urban Technology. 2017; 25 (2):27-61.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Maarten Vanhoof; Willem Schoors; Anton Van Rompaey; Thomas Ploetz; Zbigniew Smoreda. 2017. "Comparing Regional Patterns of Individual Movement Using Corrected Mobility Entropy." Journal of Urban Technology 25, no. 2: 27-61.

Journal article
Published: 01 November 2017 in Mountain Research and Development
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Severe land degradation and the consequent series of drought and famine episodes have caused major waves of human migration in Ethiopia over the past 5 decades. The main objective of this study was to assess the impacts of consecutive resettlement programs (spontaneous and planned) on the forests in southwest Ethiopia. The spatial distribution and extent of forest cover were mapped for the periods 1957, 1975, and 2007 based on visual interpretation of aerial photographs and satellite images. The rate of deforestation was analyzed using overlay and buffer analysis techniques available in ArcGIS software. Focus group discussions and household surveys were conducted to collect information on landscape (forest) change and the causes and consequences of deforestation. Results from the forest cover change analysis revealed that the study area lost large tracts (80%) of its forest cover between 1957 and 2007. Demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural changes introduced by migrants were the leading drivers of deforestation in the study area. In addition, the rate of deforestation in the region has been exacerbated by a low level of education and awareness of the local people about the benefits of forests, lack of regulations to protect the forests, habitat destruction to deter crop-damaging wild pests, forest clearing for fuelwood and charcoal making, and wood extraction for construction and household furniture purposes.

ACS Style

Kefelegn Getahun; Jean Poesen; Anton Van Rompaey. Impacts of Resettlement Programs on Deforestation of Moist Evergreen Afromontane Forests in Southwest Ethiopia. Mountain Research and Development 2017, 37, 474 -486.

AMA Style

Kefelegn Getahun, Jean Poesen, Anton Van Rompaey. Impacts of Resettlement Programs on Deforestation of Moist Evergreen Afromontane Forests in Southwest Ethiopia. Mountain Research and Development. 2017; 37 (4):474-486.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kefelegn Getahun; Jean Poesen; Anton Van Rompaey. 2017. "Impacts of Resettlement Programs on Deforestation of Moist Evergreen Afromontane Forests in Southwest Ethiopia." Mountain Research and Development 37, no. 4: 474-486.

Journal article
Published: 01 December 2016 in Land Use Policy
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Highlights•We executed the first cross-scale study of drivers and actors of deforestation in DR Congo.•Significant variation in deforestation was detected across villages and households.•Main deforesters are not subsistence but market-oriented, asset-rich farmers.•Villages differ in deforestation rates and social-ecological conditions requiring spatial targeting of policy interventions.•Limiting driver studies to the national level does not suffice to design effective REDD+ policies. AbstractConversion of tropical forests remains high on the international agenda, but the effectiveness of the proposed framework to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) has been questioned. We hypothesized that an effective implementation of REDD+ would require understanding of the functioning of the local social-ecological system and modulation of actions to the actors’ characteristics and motivations in the affected areas. But cross-scale studies of deforestation drivers are seldom performed, given the difficulties to obtain consistent datasets, particularly for the local scale. We addressed this issue for the agricultural expansion in the Central Basin of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a REDD+ priority country.We detected considerable variation in deforestation rate within scale levels, with highest variation at village and household level, which had gone unnoticed so far. Population density and market access are the main sources of inter-village variation, although cultural factors affect magnitude by an order of 2. Individual household contributions to deforestation are strongly unevenly distributed, with longer established households and better market integrated households deforesting more than others.Our results reveal that due to the current lack of cross-scale studies, policy makers are lacking context specific relevant information at local scale needed to design efficient, effective and equitable policies. They also challenge the dominant discourse that agricultural expansion in the Basin is driven by poor subsistence farmers, and make us add actor-oriented interventions and land use zoning as two crucial requirements for REDD+ intensification policies to become effective.

ACS Style

Pieter C.J. Moonen; Bruno Verbist; Jarrik Schaepherders; Marcel Bwama Meyi; Anton Van Rompaey; Bart Muys. Actor-based identification of deforestation drivers paves the road to effective REDD+ in DR Congo. Land Use Policy 2016, 58, 123 -132.

AMA Style

Pieter C.J. Moonen, Bruno Verbist, Jarrik Schaepherders, Marcel Bwama Meyi, Anton Van Rompaey, Bart Muys. Actor-based identification of deforestation drivers paves the road to effective REDD+ in DR Congo. Land Use Policy. 2016; 58 ():123-132.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Pieter C.J. Moonen; Bruno Verbist; Jarrik Schaepherders; Marcel Bwama Meyi; Anton Van Rompaey; Bart Muys. 2016. "Actor-based identification of deforestation drivers paves the road to effective REDD+ in DR Congo." Land Use Policy 58, no. : 123-132.