Recognizing the transformation characteristics of resource-based cities using night-time light remote sensing data: Evidence from 126 cities in China

Abstract

The most important step in the growth and transformation of resource-based cities is to identify transformational traits scientifically and determine future transformation and upgrading directions. However, there is a lack of quantitative identification of the critical time points for resource-based city transformation. Our study identified one-hundred and twenty-six resource-based cities at the prefecture level using the remote sensing data of nighttime light from 2000 to 2020 in China. The critical time nodes of the resource-based city transformation were objectively identified from the perspective of nighttime light. The findings reveal that while most resource-based cities keep expanding, their size falls from 2000 to 2020. The shrinking of resource-based cities also showed a downward trend. While stable resource-based cities first saw a decline and then an increase. The crucial years for continuously expanding cities were mostly 2008–2011, for continuously stable cities occurred mainly in 2017–2020, and continuously shrinking cities occurred mainly in 2011–2014. The results also indicate that a city under continuous expansion (shrinkage) will gradually transform into a city of continuous stability when the expansion (shrinkage) reaches a certain extent. Ultimately, this study provides new insights into how resource-based cities transform and grow.