Verifying the Synthesized Effects of Intensive Urban Land Use on Quality of Life, Ecology, and Urban-Land-Use Scale in China

Abstract

Intensive urban land use has been proposed as a method to promote sustainable development in the context of rapid urban sprawl. However, a consensus has not been reached on whether this approach is beneficial for ecology and compatible with suitable living conditions. Exploring this issue in China will help promote high-quality development. Extant research has mainly explored the effects of intensive urban land use on quality of life, ecology, and urban-land-use scale separately, while a synthesized analysis in this regard is lacking. In the light of this, we establish an analysis framework by which to verify the effects of intensive urban land use on the three aspects, using data from China spanning 2005–2019, subjected to structural equation modeling. The results show that intensive urban land use has varying degrees of positive effects on quality of life, ecology, and urban-land-use scale. It had no strong effect on the three items initially, while quality of life was significantly optimized by 2010, and ecology was markedly improved from 2015. However, there was a trend toward shrinking living space and sprawling urban areas. The corresponding suggestions are formulated for policy makers to improve intensive urban-land-use policy.