Abstract
China’s urbanization has attracted many scholars’ attention due to its significant impact on socioeconomic sustainability. Many studies have explored the spatial pattern and effects of the factors influencing urban expansion. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics integrating spatial and temporal dimensions and the spatial scales of the influencing factors are always ignored. This study applied the framework of exploratory space–time data analysis (ESTDA) to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban expansion across 342 cities in China from 1990 to 2017 and, further, used multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) to estimate the effects of influencing factors on urban expansion. We found that urban expansion had an obvious south–north division, and yet the effects of influencing factors usually showed an east–west division. We also found that the dynamic local spatial dependency of urban expansion was accompanied by a volatile coevolution process and inclined to transfer from heterogeneity to homogeneity, and homogeneity tended to be stable. The coevolution of urban expansion between cities and other neighboring ones became stronger with increases in time and regional integration. These findings support the use of customized urban planning for specific regions in different spatial dependence to improve land-use efficiency and coordinate regional development.
Highlights
China has been experiencing dramatic urbanization since the intensifying economic reforms of the early 1990s
This study investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban expansion across 342 cities from 1990 to 2017 in China and further applied multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) to characterize the spatial pattern of multiple natural and socioeconomic factors
In order to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban expansion in China and estimate the effects of natural and socioeconomic factors on urban expansion, we first explored the spatiotemperal pattern of urban expansion across 342 cities from 1990 to 2017, investigated the dynamical features with exploratory space–time data analysis (ESTDA)
Summary
China has been experiencing dramatic urbanization since the intensifying economic reforms of the early 1990s. Urbanization has greatly changed human settlement and the aggregation of resources and population, promoting economic development and the expansion of urban areas. Recent studies have considered urbanization as the fourth transition in China [1,2]. Urban expansion, fulfilling the demands of production, and living significantly impacts future sustainability [3]. Urban expansion has occupied large natural areas [4–6], and the loss of natural areas threatens terrestrial biodiversity [7] and ecosystem services [8–10]. Urban sprawl worsens people’s living environments via air pollution [11,12], water pollution [13,14], and urban heat islands [15,16], which endanger people’s health. Clarifying the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban expansion and its influencing factors are fundamental to improving land-use efficiency and coordinating regional development
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