Protected areas (PAs) are designated to safeguard specific areas with natural and cultural values. Importantly, appropriate management is vital for PAs to achieve their conservation goals. Therefore, the management staff is essential for guaranteeing the successful management of PAs and delivering outstanding organizational performance. In China, staff faces many difficulties when conducting conservation activities because of an inefficient management system, and the lack of relevant laws and regulations.

Valuation problems, such as valuation inaccuracies/variations, client influence, and the use of heuristics, are common problems in property valuation practice globally. These problems have generated debate in recent times under the rubric of “behavioural issues in valuation”. This paper examines valuation problems in developing countries, as well as the current efforts that are undertaken to address these problems, with a view of determining the best approach to explain and/or address them.

To understand the urbanization process, it is essential to detect urban spatial growth and to study relations with social development. In this study, we take Wuhan as a case to examine urban land growth patterns and how social factors relate to the urban land evolution between 1990, 2000, and 2010. We first classify land cover using Landsat images and examine the urban growth patterns during various stages based on landscape metrics regarding the area, density, and shape. Afterwards, principal component analysis and census data are used to extract key social factors.