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Land-use and land-cover change research needs to pay more attention to processes of land-cover modification, and especially to agricultural land intensification. The objective of this paper is to review the different modelling approaches that have been used in land-use/land-cover change research from the perspective of their utility for the study and prediction of changes in land-use intensification. After clarifying the main concepts used, the different modelling approaches that have been used to study land-use change are examined, case study evidence on processes and drivers of land-use intensification are discussed, and a conclusion is provided on the present ability to predict changes in land-use intensity. The analysis suggests there are differences in the capability of different modelling approaches to assess changing levels of intensification: dynamic, process-based simulation models appear to be better …