Research progress and prospects of land use conflict

Land use conflict has increasingly become a focal point of research within the field of land science, reflecting its vital importance in ensuring the sustainable use of land resources, as well as its significant implications for societal security and stability. Due to the complexity and multi-dimensionality of land use conflict, there has not yet been a unified agreement on the precise conceptual connotation of land use conflict, leading to varied interpretations across the academic community. These divergent interpretations have naturally given rise to different research perspectives, each of which is grounded in distinct theoretical foundations and methodological approaches. The diversity in understanding has resulted in a rich but fragmented body of knowledge, where different paradigms offer unique insights into the causes, dynamics, and governance of land use conflicts. Despite the wealth of research in this area, there remains a significant gap in the literature when it comes to systematically classifying and summarizing these varied perspectives and theoretical underpinnings. This lack of a comprehensive synthesis not only hinders the development of a cohesive framework for understanding land use conflict but also limits the potential for interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration. To fill the gap, this study first examined the connotation of the concept of land use conflict in previous research and identified a consensus implied across the diverse definitions: the subjects of land use conflict are stakeholders, while the objects are various interests related to land, including land space, ownership, resources, assets, and functions. Next, we reviewed the foundational theories on land use conflict, encompassing disciplines such as sociology, management, economics, psychology, geography, and ecology. Drawing on the conceptual connotation and theoretical foundations of land use conflict, this study developed a universal conceptual framework, highlighting key elements such as conflict subjects, conflict objects, driving factors, conflict outcomes, and the broader social-ecological systems. On this basis, this study took the subject and object of land use conflict as a focal point to categorize and summarize research findings in the areas of identification and evaluation, driving mechanism analysis, and governance. In the identification and evaluation of conflicts, research focusing on conflict subjects primarily employs participatory methods, while studies centered on conflict objects often utilize multi-objective superposition methods, comprehensive index evaluation methods, and ecological risk assessment methods, and research addressing specific conflict events commonly applies news media content analysis. The driving mechanisms behind conflicts are relatively complex, with influencing factors categorized into three main groups: conflict subjects, conflict objects, and the policy and institutional environment. Conflict governance involves the coordination and negotiation between conflict subjects, the trade-offs among conflict objects, and the improvement of policies and institutions. Based on the summary of existing achievements, this study suggested that future research on land use conflicts should be further deepened and expanded in several key areas: the development of a multi-perspective theoretical framework, more in-depth exploration of land use conflicts from the perspective of land use functions, comprehensive analysis of driving mechanisms, and the investigation of integrated governance approaches.