Spatiotemporal characteristics and driving forces of urban sprawl in China during 2003–2017

Abstract

Abstract As for the academics and policymakers, more attention has been given to the issue on urban sprawl in China, while in-depth study at the national scale was relatively limited. Based on the 285 prefecture-level and above cities in China from 2003 to 2017, this paper has adopted the remote sensing derived data from the LandScan Global Population Database to examine the spatiotemporal characteristics of urban sprawl, and to investigate its driving forces among different sizes of cities at national and regional levels. The results revealed that small and medium-sized cities sprawled most significantly, followed by large cities, while mega cities sprawled the least. In addition, some new findings have been unearthed compared to the existing literature. For example, the siphon effect was greater than the spillover effect among different sizes of cities at the national scale, indicating that the competition of development resources has to some extent hindered the deterioration of urban sprawl in China; when the spatial heterogeneity was considered, the driving forces of urban sprawl exhibited differentiation among different regions and urban sizes. Furthermore, the spatial spillover effect of urban sprawl has exacerbated its intensity, which highlighted the importance and necessity of joint governance in space. The research concludes with future policy implications necessary for a more sustainable, compact, and coordinated urban development.