Expansion of construction land along the motorway in rapidly developing areas in Cambodia

Abstract

Land is the basic place to achieve the goal of SDG2030. The influence of globalization, urbanization, and industrialization will intensify the competition between ecological land and construction land, especially in the fast-growing area along the motorway. How to understand the spatial pattern, evolutionary mechanism and driving factors of expansion of construction land in the above areas is significant for realizing sustainable land use and formulating land use development and protection policies. We choose Motorway 4 in Cambodia as the study case. According to the land-use data of 2000/2010/2020 from the GlobeLand30 2020 database, we analyze the characteristics and driving factors of land-use change along Motorway 4 in Cambodia. The results show that: (1)The study area presents an overall effect of a rapid increase in construction land and a large reduction in farmland. This change mainly occurs around the central cities and areas along the motorway. (2)The change of construction land in the motorway buffer zone presents an axial effect of distance attenuation, that is, the expansion range of construction land is mainly concentrated within 8 km from the motorway. (3) The change of construction land presents a pole concentration effect, that is, the expansion of construction land in Phnom Penh and Sihanouk is obvious, while the change of construction land in the other town is not obvious. (4) The change of construction land in the motorway buffer zone presents dynamic evolution characteristics. To deepen analyze the spatio-temporal differentiation of construction land expansion, we introduce the spatial expansion model of the “Point-Axis” system and establish a quantitative model to explain the impact of globalization, industrialization, and urbanization. This study can be a good case for the study of BRI's influence on the countries along the route, and provide suggestions for the realization of sustainable development in underdeveloped areas.