Abstract
Over the last decade, Kunming has been subject to a strong urbanisation driven by rapid economic growth and socio-economic, topographical and proximity factors. As this urbanisation is expected to continue in the future, it is important to understand its environmental impacts and the role that spatial planning strategies and urbanisation regulations can play herein. This is addressed by (1) quantifying the cities’ expansion and intra-urban restructuring using Local Climate Zones (LCZs) for three periods in time (2005, 2011 and 2017) based on the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tool (WUDAPT) protocol, and (2) cross-referencing observed land-use and land-cover changes with existing planning regulations. The results of the surveys on urban development show that, between 2005 and 2011, the city showed spatial expansion, whereas between 2011 and 2017, densification mainly occurred within the existing urban extent. Between 2005 and 2017, the fraction of open LCZs increased, with the largest increase taking place between 2011 and 2017. The largest decrease was seen for low the plants (LCZ D) and agricultural greenhouse (LCZ H) categories. As the potential of LCZs as, for example, a heat stress assessment tool has been shown elsewhere, understanding the relation between policy strategies and LCZ changes is important to take rational urban planning strategies toward sustainable city development.
Highlights
IntroductionUrbanisation in Kunming is investigated. Urbanisation is one of the main driving forces for global environmental changes and socio-economic development and it is happening very fast and on a large scale, especially in China [1,2,3]
In this study, urbanisation in Kunming is investigated
In the period between 2005 and 2011, there was mostly a conversion of agricultural land into urban Local Climate Zones (LCZs) in order to expand the city for residences or industrial zones
Summary
Urbanisation in Kunming is investigated. Urbanisation is one of the main driving forces for global environmental changes and socio-economic development and it is happening very fast and on a large scale, especially in China [1,2,3]. Migration affects urbanisation, as more than 150 million Chinese farmers are expected to move to cities between 2010 and 2020 [7]. In 2015, WUDAPT was conceived to gather and spread data on the physical geographies of cities globally by using the Local Climate Zone scheme in order to overcome the lack of useful information about the form and function of cities [28,32]. Each zone features a typical screen-height temperature that is most clearly seen on dry surfaces, on quiet, clear nights and on simple relief [29]. It was found by Geleticet al. (2016) [47]) and Cai et al (2017) [43] that higher Land Surface Temperatures (LST) are found in areas with heavy industry (LCZ 10), large low-rises (LCZ 8), compact mid-rises (LCZ 2) and compact low-rises (LCZ 3) due to factors like building material, thermal activities, absence of green elements, and the sky-view factor [48]
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