Analyzing the Variation of Building Density Using High Spatial Resolution Satellite Images: the Example of Shanghai City.

Xian-Zhang Pan,Yin Liang,Qi-Guo Zhao,Bo Sun,Jie Chen

doi:10.3390/s8042541

Xian-Zhang Pan, Yin Liang + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/s8042541

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Abstract

Building density is an important issue in urban planning and land management. In the article, building coverage ratio (BCR) and floor area ratio (FAR) values extracted from high resolution satellite images were used to indicate buildings' stretching on the surface and growth along the third dimension within areas of interest in Shanghai City, P.R. China. The results show that the variation of FAR is higher than that of BCR in the inner circle, and that the newer commercial centers have higher FAR and lower BCR values, while the traditional commercial areas have higher FAR and BCR ratios. By comparing different residential areas, it was found that the historical "Shikumen" areas and the old residential areas built before 1980s have higher BCR and lower FAR, while the new residential areas have higher FAR and lower BCR, except for the villa areas. These results suggest that both older building areas and villa areas use land resources in an inefficient way, and therefore better planning and management of urban land are needed for those fast economic growing regions.

Highlights

China is experiencing urbanization at an unprecedented rate [1,2]
The methods used to extract a building's information from high resolution satellite images are applicable to our research; the methods are based on some assumptions when measuring the floor area ratio (FAR) and building coverage ratio (BCR) values
Since the two indices reflect the building’s stretch on the ground and the vertical height within an area, they are used in the measuring of building density in Shanghai City in China

Summary

Introduction

China is experiencing urbanization at an unprecedented rate [1,2]. Some cities in Southeast China have even doubled in size over the last 20 years and this has led to a great loss of arable land [3,4]. In the fast growing areas of China, where land supply is restricted, the cities cannot expand in a sprawl fashion, and are becoming higher and more crowded. Sensors 2008, 8 congested in a small place reduce people’s quality-of-life. The literature confirms the influence of urban design on many aspects of people’s physical and mental health, and social and cultural vibrancy [5]. Building density is an important issue in urban planning and land management, and an indicator of a city’s evolution, because the buildings constructed in different periods have different styles and vary greatly in how the land is used

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