Rethinking Land Systems Evaluation in Hybrid Physical–Digital Spaces: A Spatial and Stock–Flow Perspective for Urban and Territorial Transitions

Rapid digitalization and artificial intelligence are restructuring land systems by altering the functional relationship between built environments, socio-ecological processes, and territorial capital accumulation. This paper provides a conceptual and literature-based analysis of how hybrid physical–digital infrastructures are reshaping urban–rural interactions, land-use intensity, and long-term sustainability conditions. Rather than developing a fully operational measurement model, the study critically examines the limitations of aggregate productivity indicators and existing evaluation frameworks in capturing spatial reorganization processes, capital durability, and long-term dynamics. Building on insights from sustainability economics and socio-ecological systems research, the paper proposes a stock–flow interpretative perspective to better understand the interaction between physical, natural, and intangible capital within evolving land systems. The analysis focuses on three structural drivers of land system transformation: (i) the virtualization of services and the expansion of cyberspace-based infrastructures; (ii) demographic contraction and aging processes affecting land demand and settlement structures; and (iii) capital deepening in energy-intensive digital networks with implications for land–climate interactions. Within this context, particular attention is given to infrastructure life-cycle dynamics, entropy-related capital decay, and the role of artificial intelligence in reshaping labor–land relationships. The paper highlights the need for new evaluation approaches capable of distinguishing between value generated through material land transformation and value emerging from intangible and digital layers. In this sense, it aims to contribute to ongoing debates on land management and spatial planning by outlining a research agenda for the development of spatially grounded, stock–flow-based sustainability metrics. The findings suggest that future land governance and urban development strategies will need to explicitly account for hybrid spatial architectures and their long-term resource and climate implications in order to preserve territorial resilience and intergenerational equity.