A Meta-Analysis of Global Urban Land Expansion

The varying driving forces of urban land expansion in China: Insights from a spatial-temporal analysis

With the rapid development of urbanization in Henan Province, it is of great significance to study the relationship between man and land in regional cities to grasp the quality of urban development and to promote the healthy development of urbanization. In this paper, data envelopment analysis (DEA), Kernel density analysis, gravity center model and Logistic model are used to analyze the evolution and coordination of urban population growth and land expansion in 18 cities of Henan Province from 2000 to 2014, and to predict their overall development trend. The results show that: (1) the urban land expansion rate in Henan Province is faster than the population growth rate on the whole, the spatial distribution of the two increment is mainly in Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Luohe and other core cities, and Anyang, Nanyang, Nanyang, etc. (2) the center of gravity of urban population and the center of gravity of land are both located in the southeast of Zhengzhou City, and the coordination relationship between them presents the situation of Enhancement, Stability and Enhancement; The spatial coordination between urban land expansion and population growth is weak, and the land advance development is the main factor. (3) before 2003, the urban population growth and land expansion kept in sync, The forecasting results show that slowing down the expansion of urban land properly and coordinating the relationship between human and land will be the future direction of urbanization in Henan Province.

With the pursuit for global competitiveness and economic growth, Chinese cities have recorded massive urban land expansion. This article examines the effects of development policies and economic restructuring on urban land expansion in China through a case study of Nanjing, representing the rapidly growing and globalizing coastal cities in China. Wei investigate the development process and changing contents of government policies, and analyze development zones and key projects as privileged, trait making, and even path‐breaking elements of the development process. We highlight the transition and paradox of the Chinese state in the urban development process, and the broad contexts underlying urban land expansion in Chinese cities. We see urban expansion in China as a process largely responding to top‐down policy change and economic transition initiated by the central government. We hold that the role of the state has to be analyzed to understand urban transformation and land expansion, moving beyond local factors of accessibility and feasibility. Development‐zone and project fevers, and lagging administrative reforms, however, have made Chinese cities heavy with debt and led to wasteful development, corruption, and social unrest in China.

Urban land expansion and regional inequality in transitional China

Along with its economic reform, China has experienced a rapid urbanization. This study mapped urban land expansion in China using high-resolution Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper data of 1989/1990, 1995/1996 and 1999/2000 and analyzed its expansion modes and the driving forces underlying this process during 1990-2000. Our results show that China's urban land increased by 817 thousand hectares, of which 80.8% occurred during 1990-1995 and 19.2% during 1995-2000. It was also found that China's urban expansion had high spatial and temporal differences, such as four expansion modes, concentric, leapfrog, linear and multi-nuclei, and their combinations coexisted and expanded urban land area in the second 5 y was much less than that of the first 5 y. Case studies of the 13 mega cities showed that urban expansion had been largely driven by demographic change, economic growth, and changes in land use policies and regulations.

Along with its economic reform, China has experienced a rapid urbanization. This study mapped urban land expansion in China using high-resolution Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper data of 1989/1990, 1995/1996 and 1999/2000 and analyzed its expansion modes and the driving forces underlying this process during 1990-2000. Our results show that China's urban land increased by 817 thousand hectares, of which 80.8% occurred during 1990-1995 and 19.2% during 1995-2000. It was also found that China's urban expansion had high spatial and temporal differences, such as four expansion modes, concentric, leapfrog, linear and multi-nuclei, and their combinations coexisted and expanded urban land area in the second 5 y was much less than that of the first 5 y. Case studies of the 13 mega cities showed that urban expansion had been largely driven by demographic change, economic growth, and changes in land use policies and regulations.

Urban land expansion in China has attracted considerable scholarly attention. However, more work is needed to apply spatial modeling to understanding the mechanisms of urban growth from both institutional and physical perspectives. This paper analyzes urban expansion in Shanghai and its development zones (DZs). We find that, as nodes of global-local interface, the DZs are the most significant components of urban growth in Shanghai, and major spatial patterns of urban expansion in Shanghai are infilling and edge expansion. We apply logistic regression, geographically weighted logistic regression (GWLR) and spatial regime regression to investigate the determinants of urban land expansion including physical conditions, state policy and land development. Regressions reveal that, though the market has been an important driving force in urban growth, the state has played a predominant role through the implementation of urban planning and the establishment of DZs to fully capitalize on globalization. We also find that differences in urban growth dynamics exist between the areas inside and outside of the DZs. Finally, this paper discusses policies to promote sustainable development in Shanghai.

Do high-speed railways accelerate urban land expansion in China? A study based on the multi-stage difference-in-differences model

Under the political dominance of urbanization, the policy of increasing versus decreasing balance (IVDB) between urban and rural construction land has had a profound influence on urban land expansion in China. The purpose of this study is to reveal the impact of the IVDB policy on the process of urban land expansion. Considering the transition process among different land use types under the IVDB policy, this study proposes two situations of urban land expansion. A future land use simulation (FLUS) model is applied to simulate the expansion process over three steps. A case study of Fenghua District in Ningbo City, China, shows the following: (1) In the first situation of village land directly transformed into urban land, the transformation is concentrated in the northern and western parts of Fenghua District. The expansion trends are particularly pronounced along existing urban land and main traffic lines. (2) In the second situation of village land reclamation for agricultural land and urban land occupation for agricultural land, the spatial differences in village land conversion to arable land or other agricultural land are relatively small, and the degree of concentration of arable land is significantly increased after reclamation. Urban land expansion mainly occurs close to Ningbo City. With the help of transfer quotas “produced” by other areas, expansion land can be balanced within Fenghua District. This research helps to shed light on the urban land use growth process and provides beneficial insights for stock spatial planning in China.

Urban land expansion in China's six megacities from 1978 to 2015

Urban land expansion under economic transition in China: A multi-level modeling analysis

As a developing country, China is experiencing rapid urbanization. With rapid economic development and urban population growth, urban land continues to expand. The urban land expansion provides development space for cities; however, the disorderly expansion of urban land also results in a significant waste of land resources. In order to effectively regulate the scale of urban land and prevent the disorderly expansion of urban land, it is necessary to conduct analyses of the characteristics and trends of urban land expansion. In the present paper, taking Shandong province as the research area, we analyze the characteristics and limits of urban land expansion. Based on the relationship between urban land expansion, economic development, and urban population growth, using urban land area, the output value of secondary and tertiary industries, and population data to construct a marginal effect model and logistic model to estimate the limit time and limit scale of urban land expansion in Shandong province from the perspectives of economic development and urban population growth. The results show that: (a) Economic development and urban population growth are the main influencing factors of urban land expansion in Shandong province. With the development of the economy and urbanization, the expansion rate of urban land in Shandong province is decreasing. (b) From the perspective of economic development, With the continuous improvement of urban land use efficiency, the demand for newly-added urban land by economic development gradually weakens. In 2033, the urban land in Shandong province will reach the expansion limit, with a limit scale of 7982 km2. (c) From the perspective of urban population growth, in 2037, the urbanization rate of Shandong province will reach 80%, the urban population will be stable, and the urban land will reach the expansion limit, with a limit scale of 9068.8 km2.

More profound knowledge about urban land use and expansion is needed to better understand the growth and sustainability of Chinese cities. This special issue is dedicated to addressing land use and environmental issues arising from the urbanization process, and aims to identify and model the mechanisms of land use and environmental changes. It draws from papers that were presented in the sessions titled ‘‘Urbanization, Land Use, and Regional Development in China I, II, III’’ at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in New York, February 24–28, 2012. In addition, we have also collected papers presented at the ‘‘International Conference on Urbanization and Development in China’’ held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, August 26–28, 2011, and through an open call for papers. Articles published in this special issue have all successfully gone through a very selective and rigorous anonymous peer-review process in order to secure a fairly high standard and a good balance between the different topics, debates, and study regions. This special issue has thus contributed to the broadening of the geographical scope and scale of research. This special issue is situated in the broad trends of academic enquiry on modeling urban growth and land expansion in China. Specifically, this research furthers the study of local variations on urban growth patterns with recently developed geographic information science (GIS) spatial analysis techniques such as geographically weighted logistic regression, and interprets urban growth patterns through the analysis of institutional change and on-theground field experiences. This special issue has also further attempted to incorporate socio-economic variables and expand the coastal cities-based research to interior cities. While the focus of this special issue is urban land expansion, it also explores a wide range of associated topics, including the characteristics of environmental problems and how this is related to China’s urban transition. This issue is a collection of 10 papers selected out of many candidate ones from the two conferences and open call for papers. Due to quality control and space limitation, some of the submitted manuscripts had to be rejected. We thank all those who submitted their abstracts and papers. We greatly appreciate the prompt action from both authors and reviewers, which allowed the timely publication of this special issue. Finally, our thanks also go to Dr. George Christakos, SERRA’s Editor-in-Chief, who helps us achieve the realization of this special issue.

Urban land expansion, fiscal decentralization and haze pollution: Evidence from 281 prefecture-level cities in China

Economic transition and urban land expansion in Provincial China