Land‐use change and cropland loss in the Zhejiang coastal region of China

Abstract

Land‐use change is emerging as one of the most critical environmental issues. As one of the most economically developed coastal regions in China, Zhejiang province has undergone substantial changes in land use over the last 2 decades. With rapid urban expansion and modernisation, sustainable land use on limited land resources has become a critical issue for local environment and socioeconomic development. The objectives of this study were to quantify land use/cover (LULC) changes and to attempt to identify socioeconomic drivers. Land‐sat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images taken in 1985, 1993 and 2001 were used to map land use/cover changes. A stratified unsupervised classification technique was implemented in conjunction with visual interpretation. Using a modified Anderson's I/II/III‐level classification scheme, an overall classification accuracy of 90% in level I was achieved. A LULC conversion matrix was produced for 2 decades to explore and explain LULC changes. All kinds of land uses have undergone varying degrees of change, among which are a notable loss of cropland and urban growth is the outstanding land‐use change type. Urban sprawl is the main reason for the decrease in cropland. Spatially, the cropland loss has been uneven in different parts of the costal region in Zhejiang province. Temporally, land‐use development has not stabilised and the two study periods, 1985–93 and 1993–2001, have different transition styles.