Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members have experienced tremendous transformation in their smart cities in recent years. Every GCC nation has its own urban planning authority to manage urban growth and development since its independence from British rule. These planning agencies create strategies, plans, rules, and oversee the building process. The novelty of this research lies in its comprehensive analysis, cross-border comparisons, and the generation of insights that contribute to a deeper understanding of urban planning dynamics and strategies within the Gulf Cooperation Council. The objective of this article is to examine the national spatial strategies (NSS) and vision plans of GCC countries. This study discusses the existing methods, plans, and efforts to accomplish this goal while emphasizing prospective opportunities, problems, and difficulties. We used the SWOT method to evaluate the national vision plans of GCC countries. The analysis identifies successful outcomes that the GCC countries have already achieved in terms of their national spatial strategies. The weakness in the current strategies is oil dependency, which could be strengthened. Potential opportunities in the tourism sector need to be taken full advantage of, and potential threats, like regional tension, need to be managed to prevent the failure of the development of the existing urban system. The primary suggestion entails executing programs outlined by the respective line ministries and ensuring efficient management of urban spatial expansion by municipal authorities. However, the findings could serve as lessons for those at the helm of affairs in GCC countries to collaborate and achieve a comprehensive national strategic plan.

The land is a vital source of agriculture. Agricultural land is utilized for the purpose of cropping. Delineation of potential agricultural land is pertinent when population pressure incrementally increases and a competitive trade-off between different land uses. The present study is conducted to evaluate the agrarian land suitability in the Ranchi district (Plateau region in India) using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP). A land suitability evaluation technique is designed, combining nineteen thematic layers from five categories: climatic parameters, topographic features, soil characteristics, euclidean distance, and land elements. All thematic layers were combined into a single layer using the FAHP model to create agricultural land suitability map in a GIS environment. Our analysis demonstrates that 11.17% of the total area (509700 ha) is highly suitable, while about 20.73% and 13.81% of the study area is moderately suitable and marginally suitable for agricultural activities. The study also reveals that approximately 54.29% of the lands are not suitable for agriculture. Our findings provide additional information, and local governments can use the land suitability map to manage and develop agricultural resources. The study contributes to the studies on agricultural suitability by bringing in multiple variables centering on the FAHP method, which can be replicated in studies on plateau regions across the globe.

The unprecedented growth of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) as a severe acute respiratory syndrome escalated to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It has created an unanticipated global public health crisis that is spreading rapidly in India as well, posing a serious threat to 1350 million persons. Among the factors, population density is foremost in posing a challenge in controlling the COVID-19 contagion. In such extraordinary times, evidence-based knowledge is the prime requisite for pacifying the effect. In this piece, we have studied the district wise transmissions of the novel coronavirus in five south Indian states until 20th July 2020 and its relationship with their respective population density. The five states are purposefully selected for their records in better healthcare infrastructure vis-à-vis other states in India. The study uses Pearson’s correlation coefficient to account for the direct impact of population density on COVID-19 transmission rate. Response surface methodology approach is used to validate the correlation between density and transmission rate and spatiotemporal dynamics is highlighted using Thiessen polygon method. The analysis has found that COVID-19 transmission in four states (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana) strongly hinges upon the spatial distribution of population density. In addition, the results indicate that the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis are likely to differ with demographic density. In conclusion, those at the helm of affairs must take cognizance of the vulnerability clusters together across districts.

Population growth, economic development, and rural–urban migration have contributed to the rapid growth of peripheral areas in Indian cities. The immigration of population and emergence of new activities are changing these areas, as seen in changes in land use and occupational structures, reduced agricultural activities, and built-up structural development. The city of Burdwan is no exception to this phenomenon of accelerated population growth. With the passage of time, this city is expanding towards peri-urban villages, thereby strongly influencing the peripheral rural settlements in the dimensions of both natural and social resource. Thus, advance spatial development planning of land use and infrastructure for a speedily growing population that is projected is highly important. In the current decade, the use of an environmental approach in the planning of peri-urban areas has gained significant recognition. However, desegregation of socio-economic sectors has been mentioned very loosely. This paper seeks to achieve spatial development in peri-urban areas by taking into account socio-economic and demographic factors along with environmental principles. Hence, the objective for the study is based on a mixed-method approach to assess major problems of a peri-urban space. We applied an interdisciplinary approach which merged household survey and temporal change analysis over three time periods (1991, 2001, and 2011) based on geographical information systems. Results show substantial built-up growth and that agricultural workers drastically decreased in the last twenty years. Finally, considering the structural and functional potential of peri-urban areas, land use zoning plan was prepared. Further, zone-wise development plan was designed for sustainable and intensive development of the city. This study has explicitly focused on quantifying physical and social infrastructure at various spatial scales, which can be implemented in other cities for balanced regional development and in identifying and mitigating disparities for balanced regional development.

Soil erosion is a concern in the Tenughat watershed, a sub-basin of the River Damodar. Watershed prioritizing based on erosion potential appraisal utilizing morphometric parameters can play an essential role in natural resource sustainability. The present study makes an attempt to analyze characterization and prioritization of sub-watersheds based on morphometric parameters, in an environment of Fuzzy AHP, Geographical Information System (GIS), with the help of compound parameter in the Tenughat watershed of Jharkhand state, India. The sediment delivery ratio (SDR) model has been applied to explain the variability of soil erosion. A set of 14 morphometric parameters characterized over twenty eight sub-watersheds using geospatial data with the help of GIS software. The rank of each sub-watershed was determined by multiplying the values of morphometric parameters with weights calculated using compound parameter. Based on the prioritization approach the entire watershed has been characterized into five potential erosion zones, i.e., very high, high, medium, low and very low. The results revealed that about 7.75% of area covering four sub-watersheds (SW5, SW6, SW9 and SW16) falls under very high potential zone and six sub-watersheds (SW1, SW2, SW7, SW8, SW18 and SW24) with 34.11% area have very low potential of soil erosion. Furthermore, the findings give useful information for watershed managers, allowing them to make more informed decisions based on the watershed's features.