S: Monitoring and understanding the evolution of land use and land cover is a key factor for many environmental studies as well as for policymakers. Moreover, policymakers are interested in understanding the factors that have a significant impact on land use change. This paper analyses the dynamics of land use change in Lebanon between the years 1984 and 2019 and identifies the main factors behind this process. The use of LandSat satellite images enables the creation of land use maps at several periods and the monitoring of the evolution of built up areas as well as of green areas. Five periods emerge from this analysis, for which it is possible to propose explanatory factors, after an in-depth qualitative analysis. Within the framework of Structural Equation Models, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis is carried out to determine the impacts of several factors related to governance and financial data. Moreover, the urban sprawl is further investigated and explained by cultural, environmental, and infrastructural factors. The main results reveal that the development of built up areas is highly dependent on good funding conditions, whereas banking conditions and weak governance are correlated. The case of Lebanon presents specificities probably linked to historical and cultural considerations that deserve to be studied in future works. In the form of recommendations, new land use policies should be enacted to ensure sustainability in the form of an equilibrium between the urban development, from one side, and the preservation of natural resources and good environmental conditions on the other side. This could comprise the preservation of natural zones; the subsidization of the cultivation profession; and the encouragement of urban densification instead of horizontal sprawl.

Worldwide, a large set of initiatives have been carried out aiming to understand the benefits offered by Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in urban areas. The European Commission (EC) has founded different projects that have performed scientific literature reviews regarding this topic. To objectively compare their results and consolidate the consensus about the impacts and benefits of NBS, we performed a text mining analysis. This methodology coupled with a visual representation of the data allowed to convert the EC funding projects reports (corpus) into a meaningful structured analysis. This method demonstrated that despite the different literature review methodologies of each report, there are common trends exhibited by the results, e.g., the NBS installation as a strategy of urban resilience, the recognition of ecosystem services (ESS) delivered by nature in urban spaces, or the importance of the EC’s supporting role in the promotion of NBS. In addition, some network specific trends have also emerged and complemented the analysis: the assessment of the NBS performance with indicators, the participatory planning approach to NBS (involving citizen and local communities) and the economic value of their services.

Due to global urbanization, urban areas are encountering many environmental, social, and economic challenges. Different solutions have been proposed and implemented, such as nature-based solutions and green and blue infrastructure. Taking into consideration exogenous factors that are associated with these solutions is a crucial question to assess their possible effects. This study examines the possible explanatory factors and their evolution until the year 2054 of several solutions in the Île-de-France region: wastewater heat-recovery, surface geothermal energy, and heat-mitigation capacities of zones. This investigation is performed by a series of statistical models, namely the ordinary least squares (OLS) and the geographically weighted regressions (GWR), integrated within a geographic information system. The main driving factors were identified as land use/land cover and population distribution. The results show that GWR models capture a large part of spatial autocorrelation. Apropos of prediction results, areas with low, medium, and high potential for implementing specific solutions are determined. Furthermore, the implementation capacities of solutions are compared with the demand depicted as the need for slowing down the effects of surface urban heat islands and the dependence on fossil energy. Moreover, the heat mitigation capacities are not at all times distinctively linked to human activities. Further investigations are needed to discover the remaining possible reasons, particularly air quality, water, vegetation, and climate change.