This paper introduces urban land teleconnections as a conceptual framework that explicitly links land changes to underlying urbanization dynamics. We illustrate how three key themes that are currently addressed separately in the urban sustainability and land change literatures can lead to incorrect conclusions and misleading results when they are not examined jointly: the traditional system of land classification that is based on discrete categories and reinforces the false idea of a rural-urban dichotomy; the spatial quantification of land change that is based on place-based relationships, ignoring the connections between distant places, especially between urban functions and rural land uses; and the implicit assumptions about path dependency and sequential land changes that underlie current conceptualizations of land transitions. We then examine several environmental "grand challenges" and discuss how urban land teleconnections could help research communities frame scientific inquiries. Finally, we point to existing analytical approaches that can be used to advance development and application of the concept.coupled human-natural systems | land change science U rbanization and land change are two global processes with far-reaching consequences. Although the two are tightly intertwined, their literatures and analytical frameworks were largely developed separately. We argue that these parallel but distinct conceptualizations limit progress in these fields and in sustainability science, specifically given the environmental impacts of urbanization on the land system, and associated social and political challenges. The magnitude and accelerating rate of contemporary urbanization are reshaping land use locally and globally in ways that require a reexamination of land change and urban sustainability. Worldwide, urban populations are projected to increase by almost 3 billion by 2050 (1) and the total global urban land area by more than 1.5 million square kilometers-an area three times the size of Spain-by 2030 (2). Urban economies currently generate more than 90% of global gross value added, meaning few rural systems are unaffected by urbanization (3). Given such trends, we must reconsider how we conceptualize the many connections and feedbacks between urbanization and land change processes. To date, a large body of literature has considered the proximate land changes brought about by urbanization, but the more distant land-use implications of urbanization remain underexamined.In climate science, the concept of teleconnections refers to climate anomalies that correlate over large geographic distances. During warm phases of the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation, for instance, the incidence of synchronous wildfires increases in the western United States (4). The virtual shrinking of distances between places, strengthening connectivity between distant locations, and growing separation between places of consumption and production are emerging topics in "telecoupled" human-natural systems (5-7) and tropical teleconnections ...

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The intention of the article is to demonstrate how data from historical maps might be applied in the process of flood risk assessment in peri-urban zones located in floodplains and be complementary datasets to the national flood maps. The research took place in two industrial parks near the rivers Žitava and Nitra in the town of Vráble (the oldest industrial park in Slovakia) and the city of Nitra (one of the largest industrial parks in Slovakia, which is still under construction concerning the Jaguar Land Rover facility). The historical maps from the latter half of the 18th and 19th centuries and from the 1950s of the 20th century, as well as the field data on floods gained with the GNSSS receiver in 2010 and the Q100 flood line of the national flood maps (2017), were superposed in geographic information systems. The flood map consists of water flow simulation by a mathematical hydrodynamic model which is valid only for the current watercourse. The comparison of historical datasets with current data indicated various transformations and shifts of the riverbanks over the last 250 years. The results proved that the industrial parks were built up on traditionally and extensively used meadows and pastures through which branched rivers flowed in the past. Recent industrial constructions intensified the use of both territories and led to the modifications of riverbeds and shortening of the watercourse length. Consequently, the river flow energy increased, and floods occurred during torrential events in 2010. If historical maps were respected in the creation of the flood maps, the planned construction of industrial parks in floodplains could be limited or forbidden in the spatial planning documentation. This study confirmed that the flood modelling using the Q100 flood lines does not provide sufficient arguments for investment development groups, and flood maps might be supplied with the data derived from historical maps. The proposed methodology represents a simple, low cost, and effective way of identifying possible flood-prone areas and preventing economic losses and other damages.

Transformation of the Slovak Cultural Landscape Since the 18th Cent. and its Recent Trends The paper is focused on a long-term development of the selected Slovak cultural landscape types (plains, basins, uplands, highlands, and mountains) in approx. 200 years, which shaped the main land use features as well as on the recent transformation trends. The land use development analyses showed that from a long term view perspective several distinct periods can be distinguished. Each of these periods was characteristic for certain land use changes depending both on the landscape character or the socioeconomic situation. The recent trends as land use intensification (intense agriculture, sub-urbanisation, industrial construction) or land use extensification (agricultural land overgrowing) are considered to be common for the entire Slovak territory. Special transformation trends reflect more local conditions, human needs and preferences (construction of water reservoirs, wind calamities or tourism resorts) and though they are spatially isolated and small they influence the majority of Slovak inhabitants.