A gradient analysis on urban sprawl and urban landscape pattern between 1985 and 2000 in the Pearl River Delta, China

Abstract

Urbanization is an irreversible trend worldwide, especially in rapidly developing China. Accelerated urbanization has resulted in rapid urban sprawl and urban landscape pattern changes. Quantifying the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban land use and landscape pattern not only can reveal the characteristics of social transfer and economic development, but also can provide insights into the driving mechanisms of land use changes. In this study, we integrated remote sensing (RS), geographic information system (GIS), landscape metrics, and gradient analysis to quantitatively compare the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use, urban sprawl, and landscape pattern for nine cities in the Pearl River Delta from 1985‒2000. For the whole study region, urbanization was obvious. The results show an increase in urban buildup land and shrinkage of cropland in the Pearl River Delta. However, the nine cities differed greatly in terms of the process and magnitude of urban sprawl for both the spatial and temporal dimensions. This was most evident for the cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Gradient analysis on urban landscape changes could deepen understanding of the stages of urban development and provide a scientific foundation for future urban planning and land management strategies in China.

Keywords

urbanization / urban sprawl / landscape pattern / gradient analysis / Pearl River Delta in China

References

[1] Angel S, Parent J, Civco D L, Blei A, Potere D (2011). The dimensions of global urban expansion: estimates and projections for all countries, 2000‒2050. Prog Plann, 75(2): 53–107

[2] Chen M X, Liu W D, Tao X L (2013). Evolution and assessment on China’s urbanization 1960‒2010: under-urbanization or over-urbanization? Habitat Int, 38: 25–33

[3] Deng J S, Wang K, Hong Y, Qi J G (2009). Spatio-temporal dynamics and evolution of land use change and landscape pattern in response to rapid urbanization. Landsc Urban Plan, 92(3‒4): 187–198

[4] Ding C R (2003). Land policy reform in China: assessment and prospects. Land Use Policy, 20(2): 109–120

[5] Du S Q, Shi P J, Van Rompaey A (2014). The relationship between urban sprawl and farmland displacement in the Pearl River Delta, China. Land (Basel), 3(1): 34–51

[6] Fan F L, Fan W (2014). Understanding spatial-temporal urban expansion pattern (1990‒2009) using impervious surface data and landscape indexes: a case study in Guangzhou (China). J Appl Remote Sens, 8(1): 083609 doi:10.1117/1.JRS.8.083609

[7] Fichera C R, Modica G, Pollino M (2012). Land cover classification and change-detection analysis using multi-temporal remote sensed imagery and landscape metrics. Eur J Remote Sens, 45: 1–18

[8] Grimm N B, Faeth S H, Golubiewski N E, Redman C L, Wu J G, Bai X M, Briggs J M (2008). Global change and the ecology of cities. Science, 319(5864): 756–760

[9] Haas J, Ban Y F (2014). Urban growth and environmental impacts in Jing-Jin-Ji, the Yangtze, River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf, 30: 42–55

[10] Hammer R B, Stewart S I, Winkler R L, Radeloff V C, Voss P R (2004). Characterizing dynamic spatial and temporal residential density patterns from 1940‒1990 across the North Central United States. Landsc Urban Plan, 69(2‒3): 183–199

[11] Han L J, Zhou W Q, Li W F (2015). Increasing impact of urban fine particles (PM2.5) on areas surrounding Chinese cities. Sci Rep, 5: 12467

[12] Irwin E G, Bockstael N E (2007). The evolution of urban sprawl: evidence of spatial heterogeneity and increasing land fragmentation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 104(52): 20672–20677

[13] Ji W, Ma J, Twibell R W, Underhill K (2006). Characterizing urban sprawl using multi-stage remote sensing images and landscape metrics. Comput Environ Urban Syst, 30(6): 861–879

[14] Johnson M P (2001). Environmental impacts of urban sprawl: a survey of the literature and proposed research agenda. Environ Plann A, 33(4): 717–735

[15] Li J X, Li C, Zhu F G, Song C H, Wu J G (2013). Spatiotemporal pattern of urbanization in Shanghai, China between 1989 and 2005. Landsc Ecol, 28(8): 1545–1565

[16] Lin G (2006). Emphases and difficulties in planning of town groups in the Pearl River Delta. Planners, 22(3): 19–21

[17] Lin G C S (2001). Metropolitan development in a transitional socialist economy: spatial restructuring in the Pearl River Delta, China. Urban Stud, 38(3): 383–406

[18] Liu H, Weng Q H (2013). Landscape metrics for analysing urbanization-induced land use and land cover changes. Geocarto Int, 28(7): 582–593

[19] Liu J Y, Kuang W H, Zhang Z X, Xu X L, Qin Y W, Ning J, Zhou W C, Zhang S W, Li R D, Yan C Z, Wu S X, Shi X Z, Jiang N, Yu D S, Pan X Z, Chi W F (2014). Spatiotemporal characteristics, patterns, and causes of land-use changes in China since the late 1980s. J Geogr Sci, 24(2): 195–210

[20] Liu J Y, Liu M L, Zhuang D F, Zhang Z X, Deng X Z (2003). Study on spatial pattern of land-use change in China during 1995‒2000. Sci China Earth Sci, 46(4): 373–384

[21] Liu J, Zhan J Y, Deng X Z (2005). Spatio-temporal patterns and driving forces of urban land expansion in China during the economic reform era. Ambio, 34(6): 450–455

[22] Long H L, Liu Y S, Wu X Q, Dong G H (2009). Spatio-temporal dynamic patterns of farmland and rural settlements in Su-Xi-Chang region: implications for building a new countryside in coastal China. Land Use Policy, 26(2): 322–333

[23] Luck M, Wu J G (2002). A gradient analysis of urban landscape pattern: a case study from the Phoenix metropolitan region, Arizona, USA. Landsc Ecol, 17(4): 327–339

[24] Lv Z Q, Dai F Q, Sun C (2012). Evaluation of urban sprawl and urban landscape pattern in a rapidly developing region. Environ Monit Assess, 184(10): 6437–6448

[25] McDonnell M J, Hahs A K (2008). The use of gradient analysis studies in advancing our understanding of the ecology of urbanizing landscapes: current status and future directions. Landsc Ecol, 23(10): 1143–1155

[26] McGarigal K, Cushman S, Neel M, Ene E (2002). FRAGSTATS v3: spatial pattern analysis program for categorical maps. Retrieved July 2016, from http://www.umass.edu/landeco/research/fragstats/fragstats.html

[27] McGarigal K, Marks B J (1995). FRAGSTATS: spatial pattern analysis program for quantifying landscape structure. Retrieved July 2016, from http://www.umass.edu/landeco/pubs/mcgarigal.marks.1995.pdf

[28] National Bureau of Statistics of China (2016). Statistical communique of the people’s republic of China on the 2015 national economic and social development. Retrieved July 2016, from http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/201602/t20160229_1324019.html

[29] O’Neill R V, Krummel J R, Gardner R H, Sugihara G, Jackson B, DeAngelis D L, Milne B T, Turner M G, Zygmunt B, Christensen S W, Dale V H, Graham R L (1988). Indices of landscape pattern. Landsc Ecol, 1(3): 153–162

[30] Qin J, Fang C L, Wang Y, Li G D, Wang S J (2015). Evaluation of three-dimensional urban expansion: a case study of Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China. Chin Geogr Sci, 25(2): 224–236

[31] Ramachandra T V, Bharath A H, Sowmyashree M V (2015). Monitoring urbanization and its implications in a mega city from space: spatiotemporal patterns and its indicators. J Environ Manage, 148: 67–81

[32] Sato Y, Yamamoto K (2005). Population concentration, urbanization, and demographic transition. J Urban Econ, 58(1): 45–61

[33] Schwarz N (2010). Urban form revisited—Selecting indicators for characterising European cities. Landsc Urban Plan, 96(1): 29–47

[34] Seto K C, Fragkias M (2005). Quantifying spatiotemporal patterns of urban land-use change in four cities of China with time series landscape metrics. Landsc Ecol, 20(7): 871–888

[35] Seto K C, Fragkias M, Güneralp B, Reilly M K (2011). A meta-analysis of global urban land expansion. PLoS One, 6(8): e23777

[36] Seto K C, Güneralp B, Hutyra L R (2012). Global forecasts of urban expansion to 2030 and direct impacts on biodiversity and carbon pools. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 109(40): 16083–16088

[37] Seto K C, Kaufmann R K (2003). Modeling the drivers of urban land use change in the Pearl River Delta, China: integrating remote sensing with socioeconomic data. Land Econ, 79(1): 106–121

[38] Shi P J, Chen J, Pan Y Z (2000). Land use change mechanism in Shenzhen city. Acta Geogr Sin, 55(2): 151–160

[39] Statistics Bureau of Guangdong Province (2014). Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2013. Beijing: China Statistics Press

[40] The Pearl River Delta Region Planning (2014). Retrieved October 2016, from http://www.gdupi.com/prd2014/productshow.asp?id=102

[41] Tian G J, Wu J G, Yang Z F (2010). Spatial pattern of urban functions in the Beijing metropolitan region. Habitat Int, 34(2): 249–255

[42] United Nations (2014). World urbanization prospects: the 2014 revision, Highlights. (ST/ESA/SER.A/352). Retrieved July 2016, from http://www.urbangateway.org/system/files/documents/urbangateway/wup2014-highlights.pdf

[43] Wang Y P, Wang Y L, Wu J S (2009). Urbanization and informal development in China: urban villages in Shenzhen. Int J Urban Reg Res, 33(4): 957–973

[44] Wu J G (2004). Effects of changing scale on landscape pattern analysis: scaling relations. Landsc Ecol, 19(2): 125–138

[45] Wu W J, Zhao S Q, Zhu C, Jiang J L (2015). A comparative study of urban expansion in Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang over the past three decades. Landsc Urban Plan, 134: 93–106

[46] Xiao J Y, Shen Y J, Ge J F, Tateishi R, Tang C Y, Liang Y Q, Huang Z Y (2006). Evaluating urban expansion and land use change in Shijiazhuang, China, by using GIS and remote sensing. Landsc Urban Plan, 75(1‒2): 69–80

[47] Xu J Y, Zhang Z X, Zhao X L, Liu B, Yi L (2015). Spatial-temporal characteristics and driving forces of urban sprawl for major cities of the Pearl River Delta region in recent 40 years. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Univerisitatis Pekinensis, 51(6): 1119–1131

[48] Xu X L, Min X B (2013). Quantifying spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion in China using remote sensing data. Cities, 35: 104–113

[49] Xu X Q, Li X (2009). Research on the urbanization of Pearl River Delta (1978‒2008): review and preview. Human Geogr, 24(1): 1–6

[50] Yang X J (2013). China’s rapid urbanization. Science, 342(6156): 310

[51] Yeh A G O, Li X (1999). Economic development and agricultural land loss in the Pearl River Delta, China. Habitat Int, 23(3): 373–390

[52] Yu X J, Ng C N (2007). Spatial and temporal dynamics of urban sprawl along two urban–rural transects: a case study of Guangzhou, China. Landsc Urban Plan, 79(1): 96–109

[53] Zhang T (2000). Land market forces and government’s role in sprawl: the case of China. Cities, 17(2): 123–135

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (No. 2015CB452702), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41571098, 41530749, and 41371196), Key Programs of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ZDRW-ZS-2016-6-4) and A Major Consulting Project of Strategic Development Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. Y02015003). There is no conflict of interest in this manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for spending their valuable time and providing constructive comments and suggestions on this manuscript.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2017 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg