Study of the Time-Spatial Influence of Urban Growth Boundary Strategy on Urban Land Development Patterns

Abstract

In recent years, growth management has been considered an important land management tool to promote sustainable urban development. Among current strategies of growth management, the strategy of urban growth boundary has been applied to several cities in order to mitigate urban sprawl and reduce uncontrolled land development. Although some theories have advocated that the growth boundary strategy may reduce the problem of urban sprawl, relatively few studies have explicitly addressed how this kind of planning control will affect land development patterns. Nor do previous studies explicitly identify the potential impact of growth boundary policy on urban land use change in Taiwan. In view of this, the study attempts to develop a research framework and conduct a spatial simulation analysis based on the Cellular Automata (CA) modeling technique. Employing Tainan City as an empirical case setting, this study simulates and compares the spatial influence of the proposed growth boundary strategy by the city government on the development patterns of urban land under two scenarios: current development trend (the zero-action plan) and the development plan employing urban growth boundary strategy. The empirical result shows that the urban growth boundary measures can slow down the urban sprawl and reduce the land development in and around environmental sensitive areas and important farmland. The results also reveal that the urban growth boundary policy will alter land development patterns and the spatial distribution of the new development land parcels. This will require urban planners and decision makers develop suitable land management strategies and land-use control tools to manage the influence of urban growth boundary measures. In such a way, the urban growth boundary plan and strategy will be a useful tool that promote sustainable land use planning and management.