Spatial-temporal differentiation of ecologically-sustainable land across selected settlements in China: An urban-rural perspective

Abstract

Ecologically-sustainable land (eco-land) is a basic resource for human survival. Rapid urbanization has profoundly transformed the spatial pattern of urban-rural land use in China. This study examined the spatiotemporal characteristics of eco-land in urban-rural areas using comparative and spatial analysis based on eco-land change data for China’s prefecture-level settlements. From 2009 to 2016, eco-land in both urban and surrounding rural areas changed significantly, with change rates of 13% in the urban area and 24% in the surrounding rural area. From the six different settlement types in urban-rural eco-land, the urban growth type (UGT) accounted for 24%, the rural growth type (SGT) accounted for 22%, the urban growth & rural reduction type (UGT&SRT) accounted for 18%, the urban reduction & rural growth type (URT&SGT) accounted for 21%, the urban reduction type (URT) accounted for 7%, and the rural reduce type (SRT) accounted for 8%, respectively. As settlement scale increased, the differences between settlements decreased: the differences between metropolises were the lowest, differences between large and medium-sized settlements were in the middle, and differences between small settlements were the highest. The settlements were clustered into four types based on the change slope of urban-rural eco-land. Further, vital and major zones for green environment management were identified. These included settlements in Shandong, Hebei, and other central rising provinces as well as other large settlements in Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi Province. The major zones included the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, and most settlements in the Central Plain urban cluster. These results can support more effective land use decisions and provide a theoretical basis for policy decisions and sustainable settlement management.