Analyzing urban sprawl through rose map and thematic map based on GIS: a case in Wuhan City, China

Abstract

Within the last decades urban sprawl being understood here as the conversion of non-urban to urban land has become an increasingly prominent theme. There are some urban models which are used to analyze and simulate urban sprawl, but it deserves study for urban planners to find a simple, effective and vivid method to analyze urban sprawl. In this study, built-up area is subdivided into sixteen parts which correspond to urban sprawl in sixteen directions based on overlay analysis of geographic information systems (GIS). The study provides a novel approach that expresses the direction and intensity of urban sprawl as "rose map of urban sprawl". And thematic map and animated map are made to show urban sprawl based on GIS. In presenting a case study on the Chinese city of Wuhan, this paper analyzes the sprawl in more than forty years. Moreover, according to practical development of Wuhan city, the reasons of urban sprawl are analyzed and the strategies of urban development are brought forward. The study thus shows that it is helpful for macro-planning and decision-making to have an analytical method available through rose map and thematic map of urban sprawl based on GIS.