Bioeconomy—A Systematic Literature Review on Spatial Aspects and a Call for a New Research Agenda | Land Portal

Resource information

Date of publication: 
January 2023
Resource Language: 
ISBN / Resource ID: 
LP-midp000855
Copyright details: 
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article

Over the last 10 to 15 years, bioeconomy (BE) has evolved to a widely accepted alternative to the dominant use of finite raw materials around the globe. One of the essential prerequisites for the sustainable implementation of this future-oriented economic system is the consideration of spatial framework conditions. This review assesses whether spatial aspects are addressed in the scientific discourse on the bioeconomy. Between 2010 to 2021, 8812 articles were published dealing with the thematic field of bioeconomy. Using a keyword list covering themes related to spatial issues, 107 articles were identified. It was possible to demonstrate that spatial aspects are rarely discussed and large research gaps are evident. These gaps relate, for example, to the development of planning instruments for the protection of agricultural land or the assessment of the influence of intensification of agriculture on biodiversity or the multifunctionality of landscapes. In addition, the social aspects of transitioning to a bioeconomy, the role of regional planning with respect to decentralised versus centralised models, and the influence of policy and governance to foster a sustainable transition process and to avoid land use conflicts are all topics which need to be addressed in research. Based on these results, a research agenda was developed covering these and further issues to enable a sustainable spatial implementation of different forms of bioeconomy.

Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

Grossauer, FranzStoeglehner, Gernot

Corporate Author(s): 
Publisher(s): 

MDPI AG, a publisher of open-access scientific journals, was spun off from the Molecular Diversity Preservation International organization. It was formally registered by Shu-Kun Lin and Dietrich Rordorf in May 2010 in Basel, Switzerland, and maintains editorial offices in China, Spain and Serbia. MDPI relies primarily on article processing charges to cover the costs of editorial quality control and production of articles. Over 280 universities and institutes have joined the MDPI Institutional Open Access Program; authors from these organizations pay reduced article processing charges.

Data provider

MDPI AG, a publisher of open-access scientific journals, was spun off from the Molecular Diversity Preservation International organization. It was formally registered by Shu-Kun Lin and Dietrich Rordorf in May 2010 in Basel, Switzerland, and maintains editorial offices in China, Spain and Serbia. MDPI relies primarily on article processing charges to cover the costs of editorial quality control and production of articles. Over 280 universities and institutes have joined the MDPI Institutional Open Access Program; authors from these organizations pay reduced article processing charges.

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