A rapid increase in land and property values has been one of the driving forces of urban ecosystem development in many countries. This phenomenon has presented project proponents/policymakers with multiple options and associated challenges, nudging them to configure or incorporate elements of land-based financing in their policies and legislations. Specifically, the Government of India and various state governments have sought to monetize land through diverse instruments, for augmenting the financial viability of infrastructure and area development projects.

Urban growth is a largely debated issue in social science. Specific forms of metropolitan expansion—including sprawl—involve multiple and fascinating research dimensions, making mixed (quali-quantitative) analysis of this phenomenon particularly complex and challenging at the same time. Urban sprawl has attracting the attention of multidisciplinary studies defining nature, dynamics, and consequences that dispersed low-density settlements are having on biophysical and socioeconomic contexts worldwide.

Forest classifications by disturbance permit designation of multiple types of both old growth forests and shorter-lived forests, which auto-replace under severe disturbance, and also identification of loss of the disturbance type and associated forest. Historically, fire and flooding disturbance regimes, or conversely, infrequent disturbance, produced unique forests such as disturbance-independent forests of American beech (Fagus grandifolia), eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and sugar maple (Acer saccharum) in the Eastern United States.