The effects of economic globalization, economic growth, natural demographic increase, migration and different processes of societal changes represent challenges that the Development and Sustainability in the Global South has to deal with. Empirical research at the interface of human-environment can contribute to a better understanding of these developments. In the Global South, many urban, peri-urban and rural areas experience dynamic land use changes often resulting in a range of conflicts around land, water and other resources.

Our research concentrates in this regard on three different aspects:

• Land use change and land use conflicts in rural and agrarian areas
• Urban green, environmental protection and urban development
• Impacts of economic “South-South" connections on urban and regional development

Selection of recent papers:

• Willkomm, M., Follmann, A. & Dannenberg, P. (2019). Rule-based, hierarchical land use and land cover classification of urban and peri-urban agriculture in data-poor regions with RapidEye satellite imagery: a case study of Nakuru, Kenya. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, 13(1). doi: 0.1117/1.JRS.13.016517.
• Follmann, A., Hartmann, G. & Dannenberg, P. (2018). Multi-temporal transect analysis of peri-urban developments in Faridabad, India. Journal of Maps, 14 (1), 17-25. 
• Opondo, F. A., Dannenberg, P. & Willkomm, M. (2017). Characterization of the levels of cassava commercialization among smallholder farmers in Kenya: A multinomial regression approach. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 12(41), 3024-3036. doi: 10.5897/AJAR2017.12634.
• Follmann, A. (2016). The role of environmental activists in governing riverscapes: the case of the Yamuna in Delhi, India. South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (SAMAJ), (14).
• Willkomm, M., Vierneisel, B. & Dannenberg, P. (2016). Land use change dynamics in the Mt. Kenya region—a remotely sensed analysis using RapidEye satellite images. Zentralblatt für Geologie und Paläontologie, 1(1), 23-40. doi: 10.1127/zgpI/2016/0023-0040.
• Willkomm, M., Vierneisel, B. & Dannenberg, P. (2016). Land use dynamics in the Mt. Kenya region - a remotely sensed analysis using RapidEye satellite images. Zentralblatt für Geologie und Paläontologie 2016(1): 23-40.