Abstract
Since the 1980s, the rapid, extensive, and dispersed urban expansion in the Pearl River Delta megalopolis (PRDM) has led to landscape fragmentation and the inefficient use of construction land. Like other developed regions in China that are subject to the dual challenges of shortages of construction land and deterioration of the ecological environment, it is becoming increasingly important in the PRDM to improve the land-use efficiency of urban construction. However, current methods for assessing land-use efficiency do not meet the emerging needs of land-use planning and policymaking. Therefore, using the American Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP)/Operational Linescan System (OLS) nighttime light imagery and Landsat TM data, this study aims to develop a timely and efficient approach to model the high-resolution economic efficiency of construction land (EECL). With this approach, we mapped the reliable EECL of the PRDM at township level and with a one-kilometer grid. Next, the study compared the temporal changes and revealed the spatial-temporal dynamics in order to provide a scientific reference for informed land-use planning and policymaking. The results show that since 1998, the economic efficiency of construction land in the PRDM increased in general but varied significantly throughout the area. Further, these disparities widened from 1998 to 2012 between the PRDM’s inner and peripheral circles. Only one-fifth of the towns and subdistricts were categorized as fast-growth or ultrafast-growth, with the majority located in the most developed areas of the PRDM’s inner circle. In order to improve the efficiency of construction land in the PRDM and realize sustainable development, differentiated land-use policies for the inner and peripheral circles were proposed. The inner circle should focus on promoting the efficiency of existing construction land and encourage urban renewal, while the peripheral circle should enhance the control of new construction land and improve its efficiency.
Highlights
Traditional economic growth has brought an amazing economic boom to China over the last 30 years [1], but at the cost of the heavy consumption of land resources and a massive loss of natural habitat [2], leading to low efficiency and fragmented construction [3,4]
In order to improve the efficiency of construction land and economic development, the Chinese government has implemented a series of land-use policies and strategies, such as market-oriented land-use reform, which aims to increase the price of industrial land [11], and the recent strategy of ecological civilization construction
In the peripheral circle, except for northwestern Pearl River Delta megalopolis (PRDM), more than 50% of the efficiency of construction land (EECL) values for towns are less than 10,000 yuan per km2
Summary
Traditional economic growth has brought an amazing economic boom to China over the last 30 years [1], but at the cost of the heavy consumption of land resources and a massive loss of natural habitat [2], leading to low efficiency and fragmented construction [3,4]. In order to improve the efficiency of construction land and economic development, the Chinese government has implemented a series of land-use policies and strategies, such as market-oriented land-use reform, which aims to increase the price of industrial land [11], and the recent strategy of ecological civilization construction. Improving land-use efficiency has become a pivotal solution for resolving conflict between socioeconomic development, environmental needs, and high-quality farmland conservation in China, especially in a rapidly urbanizing area such as the Pearl River Delta megalopolis (PRDM). Mapping more elaborate land-use efficiency is necessary in order to inform policymaking
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