Coupling Analysis of the Thermal Landscape and Environmental Carrying Capacity of Urban Expansion in Beijing (China) over the Past 35 Years

Yu Li,Haipeng Ye,Dan Meng,Xu Sun,Ji Zheng

doi:10.3390/su13020584

Abstract

In this study, we aim to carry out a coupling analysis of the thermal landscape and environmental carrying capacity of urban expansion in Beijing over the past 35 years to provide scientific grounding for city planning. The paper proposes a conceptual framework and develops an integrated quantitative approach to the coupling analysis between urban expansion, the urban ecological environment, and the urban landscape, including the Urban Eco-Environment Carrying Capacity Index (ECI), Landscape Spatial Structure Index, Landscape Thermal Index (LTI), and Transitional Landscape Index (TLI, Markov Chain Model). Urban expansion has been essentially dominated by policy adjustments and has been further influenced by socioeconomic development, which has contributed to four outbreaks of urban sprawl in Beijing. Urban expansion is an essential factor affecting ecological environment change. The Olympic Games in 2008 was the turning point for the urban landscape. The rate of urban expansion and improvement of the ecological landscape all changed significantly around the year 2008. The urban thermal distribution pattern coincided well with the featured landscape patches, representing an obvious reflection of the difference between urban green spaces and construction, while high-temperature areas were abundant in the urban center. Urban expansion has a positive effect on the ecological environment and landscape pattern when it is fully matured and well planned. It is expected that, by 2025, the ecological environment of Beijing will be significantly improved, and the proportion of high-temperature areas will decrease.

Highlights

Introduction nal affiliationsUrbanization plays an essential role in socio-economic development and is characterized by aggregation of the urban population, economic activities, and urban land [1,2,3,4].For example, China’s urban city population increased rapidly from 19.39% in 1980 to60.60% in 2017, and the area of urban land has expanded greatly from 6720 km2 in 1980 to 56,075 km2 in 2018, with an average growth rate of 6.27% [5]
Urban expansion in central urban areas at a low expansion speed (1984–1995): In this stage, due to the implementation of the reform and opening-up economic policy, Beijing entered into its first large-scale sub-low-speed expansion period
Urban expansion was essentially dominated by policy adjustments and further influenced by socioeconomic development, which contributed to four outbreaks of urban development in Beijing

Summary

Introduction

Introduction nal affiliationsUrbanization plays an essential role in socio-economic development and is characterized by aggregation of the urban population, economic activities, and urban land [1,2,3,4].For example, China’s urban city population increased rapidly from 19.39% in 1980 to60.60% in 2017, and the area of urban land has expanded greatly from 6720 km in 1980 to 56,075 km in 2018, with an average growth rate of 6.27% [5]. While urban cities have enriched people’s lives, many environmental problems have emerged, hindering the sustainable development of cities due to various issues; i.e., a degraded urban environment, the intensified urban heat island effect, and a fragmented landscape [6,7,8,9,10,11]. A great deal of research has been carried out to investigate urban expansion, urban landscapes, and urban environment quality [12,13]. This has shown that urban expansion has affected the status and functions of the biological processes of the urban eco-system; i.e., animal populations.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion