Rediscovering Chinese cities through the lens of land-use patterns

Abstract

Urbanization is a complex spatial phenomenon involving significant compositions and interactions in land use. Yet, only few studies have quantitatively examined multidimensional urban land-use patterns with insights into land use policy, particularly in the context of China’s rapid urbanization process. This paper aims to investigate the urban land-use patterns in China by employing multiple measurements with multi-sourced data, including Spatial Entropy and Dissimilarity Index, and a combination of cellular-automata (CA) modeling and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results show that land-use patterns in China are characterized from more mixed (Beijing, Shanghai) to less segregated (Xiangyang, Tangshan, and Guiyang), and the most segregated (Chongqing), which can be categorized into three typical types: economically led, government led, and geographically constrained. The findings also indicate that residential sector has correlation with GDP and urban built-up area; public sector is driven by GDP, urban built-up area, and paved road area; and commercial sector is related to GDP and paved road area. Furthermore, land-use patterns are not only determined by economic forces, but also subject to China’s land policies that formulated based on its unique social and political characteristics. It reveals the complex spatial characterization of urbanization in China, where government still plays an important role in facilitating the land use allocation. The research sheds light on understanding land use policy for land-use patterns reconfiguration in the context of New-Type Urbanization towards better planning and governance.