In addition to their cumulative long-term global dimensions, such changes can have profound regional environmental implications during the life span of current generations, such as reduced biodiversity, reduced land productivity due to soil degradation, problems of land and water contamination, and the lowering of groundwater tables. Thus, a better understanding of the dynamics in land and water use over the next 30 to 50 years is central to the debate of sustainability. Modelling Framework and Strategy Issues of global change are long-term, as are questions of resource development and investment planning. The LUC project therefore concentrates its analysis on the period up to 2050.
Land use represents a critical intersection of the economy and the environment.
Land-use changes are foremost triggered by economic decisions. This recognition has prompted LUC to choose an economic framework as the guiding paradigm for modelling. However, economic analysis is usually not concerned with spatial heterogeneity, nor does it deal with biophysical or biological process understanding. Yet, both these elements are considered essential for land use change analysis. Changes in land and water use are viewed as dependent on how these resources are transformed and managed by human activity.