Chinese and US experts discussed ecological land development at the International Academic Seminar on Big Data and the Rise of Land Engineering Discipline, which was held on Sept 20 in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province.

The two-day seminar was part of a global innovation forum of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), promoting the sustainable development of land engineering and addressing ecological concerns.

The event was sponsored by the Department of Land and Resource of Shaanxi province, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs and Xi'an Chanba Ecological District Administrative Committee. It was organized by the MIT Industrial Liaison Program and Shaanxi Land Engineering Construction Group.

At the seminar, 11 Chinese and foreign experts reported on new developments in land engineering aided by big data, land usage, and soil and water conservation during landscape projects. They also discussed soil reclamation, the forecast and control of earth movement during urban construction, the degeneration of urban ecological environments, fundamental theories of land engineering and international standards on brownfield assessment.

Academician Fu Bojie from the Chinese Academy of Sciences cited Loess Plateau as an example of how changes in land use have had a positive effect on soil conservation and carbon fixation, and a negative effect on water yield. The recovery of vegetation requires adequate environmental conditions and the biological bearing capacity of water, Fu said.

The seminar provided a platform for the exchange of ideas between Chinese and foreign engineering sectors to promote the integrated development of big data, land science and technology.