In this study, the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC) were evaluated in the peri-urban area of the Arshaly district, which borders the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Landsat multispectral images were used to study the changes in LULC. The analysis of LULC dynamics was carried out using supervised classification with a multi-temporal interval (1998, 2008, and 2018). During the study period, noticeable changes occurred in LULC. There was an increase in the area of arable land and forests and a reduction in the pastures. There was a sharp increase in the built-up area; that is, there was an intensification of land use through an increase in the share of arable land as well as the transformation of agricultural land for development. However, in general, the influence of urban sprawl in this peri-urban area has so far been accompanied by only a slight focus on its sustainable development.

Changes occurring because of human activity in protected natural places require constant monitoring of land use (LU) structures. Therefore, Korgalzhyn District, which occupies part of the Korgalzhyn State Natural Reserve territory, is of considerable interest. The aim of these studies was to analyze changes in the composition of the land use/land cover (LULC) of Korgalzhyn District from 2010 to 2021 and predict LU transformation by 2030 and 2050. Landsat image classification was performed using Random Forest on the Google Earth Engine. The combined CA-ANN model was used to predict LULC changes by 2030 and 2050, and studies were carried out using the MOLUSCE plugin. The results of these studies showed that from 2010 to 2021, there was a steady increase in the share of ploughable land and an adequate reduction in grassland. It is established that, in 2030 and 2050, this trend will continue. At the same time, there will be no drastic changes in the composition of other land classes. The obtained results can be helpful for the development of land management plans and development policies for the Korgalzhyn District.

The suburban territories of large cities are transitional zones where intensive transformations in land use are constantly taking place. Therefore, the presented work is devoted to an integrated assessment of land use changes in the Shortandy district (Kazakhstan) based on an integrated study of the dynamics of land use and sustainable development indicators (SDIs). It was found that the main tendency in the land use of this Peri-urban area (PUA) during 1992–2018 is their intensification, through an increase in arable lands. Kazakhstan only recently started the systematic collection of SDIs according to international standards. Therefore, to assess the sustainable development of the study area, limited amounts of information were available. Nevertheless, the use of SDIs from 2007 to 2017 showed that the growth of economic development inthe study area is almost adequately accompanied by an increase in the level of social and environmental development. The methodological approach used can be widely used to assess the sustainable development of specific territories in general and the development of the capital of Kazakhstan and their PUA, in particular.

Long-term spatiotemporal Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) analysis is an objective tool for assessing patterns of sustainable development (SD). The basic purpose of this research is to define the Driving Mechanisms (DM) and assess the trend of SD in the Burabay district (Kazakhstan), which includes a city, an agro-industrial complex, and a national natural park, based on the integrated use of spatiotemporal data (STD), economic, environmental, and social (EES) indicators. The research was performed on the GEE platform using Landsat and Random Forest. The DM were studied by Multiple Linear Regression and Principal Component Analysis. SD trend was assessed through sequential transformations, aggregations, and integrations of 36 original STD and EES indicators. The overall classification accuracy was 0.85–0.97. Over the past 23 years, pasture area has changed the most (−16.69%), followed by arable land (+14.72%), forest area increased slightly (+1.81%), and built-up land—only +0.16%. The DM of development of the AOI are mainly economic components. There has been a noticeable drop in the development growth of the study area in 2021, which is apparently a consequence of the COVID-19. The upshots of the research can serve as a foundation for evaluating SD and LULC policy.

An ecosystem health assessment (EHA) is essential for comprehensively improving the ecological environment and socio-economic conditions, thereby promoting the sustainable development of a specific area. Most previous EHA studies have focused on urbanized regions, paying insufficient attention to rural areas with urban enclaves and national natural parks. This study employed the Basic Pressure–State–Response methodological approach. The composition of indicators (35) encompassed both spatiotemporal data and socio-economic information. The random forest algorithm was used on the Google Earth Engine platform to classify and evaluate changes in land use and land cover (LULC). In addition, weighting coefficients were calculated, and driving factors were subsequently identified. The analysis revealed that the rural administrative divisions in the central part of Zerendy district, where the city of Kokshetau is situated, exhibited a relatively low level of ecosystem health (EH). The southwestern rural administrative divisions of the studied district, where the national nature park and the reserve territories are located, exhibited a higher level of EH. Other rural administrative divisions located in the eastern parts of the district generally exhibited a moderate level of EH. Interested managers can use the results of our assessment to implement adequate measures aimed at improving the health of the Zerendy district ecosystem.

This scientific article presents the basic information on the study of ecological and landscape division of sustainable regional infrastructure in the agro-industrial complex. At present, zoning of the boundaries of landscape-territorial units is of great interest in connection with the greening of society. The ecological and landscape division of territories has a special character and significance, since its study is aimed at determining the exact economic laws and calculations of regions, as well as their ecological solutions and features.The main objective is to determine the spatial ecological and landscape homogeneity of territories, as well as a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the relationship between human activity and nature in space, including the use of land resources. In this regard, the theoretical and methodological foundations of the ecological-economic definition of territories should be based on philosophical, ecological-economic ideas about the relationship between the environment, ecology and the economy, which represent a single complex natural ecological-economic system that is in constant development. Landscape and ecological land management works reflect the results of the ecological and economic assessment of lands and establish the qualitative and quantitative cadastral characteristics of lands. Substantive zoning by means of zoning makes it possible to compare different areas of the plots, as well as environmental, soil protection and restoration measures or more rational placement of production and to calculate the socio-ecological properties of a certain territory, as a result of which it is possible to determine the most appropriate direction for the development of production.