Land Sprawl Research Articles

Urban sprawl and its effects on water competition between building industry and residents: Evidence from 31 provinces in China

With accelerated urban sprawl, water scarcity and increased water stress have become global issues. Water of building industry and domestic water are two major contributors to total water consumption that cannot be ignored. This paper seeks to emphasize the effects of urban sprawl on water competition between building industry and residents. To achieve this objective, a framework for quantifying the water usage of the life cycle of the building was first constructed. Additionally, the degree of urban sprawl and water competition between domestic and building industry was computed. This study characterized the evolution path of urban sprawl and water competition using standard deviation ellipse. Spatial econometric models were used to determine the impact of urban sprawl on water competition. The results indicate that there is a high spatial correlation between urban sprawl and water competition. The center of gravity of China's urban sprawl is consistent with the north-to-south movement of water competition. As economic sprawl increases by 1%, water competition will rise by 0.440%. As the population expands by 1%, the water competition index shifts by 0.018%. Moreover, 0.017% more water was used for every 1% increase in land sprawl.

Land disturbance tempo-spatial dynamics in mountainous urban agglomeration and its driving forces: A case study of west Sichuan urban agglomeration, China

Land disturbance (LD), commonly reflecting anthropogenic-induced land surface changes, has received unprecedented attention due to its contribution to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15: life on land. Considerable LD in China, such as urban sprawl, farmland expansion and forest loss, have resulted in a spectrum of environmental problems in recent decades. To present function-based solutions to mitigate LD, the “productive-living-ecological” system (PLES) theory released by China’s government is more conducive to investigating LD and supporting plan-makers concerning regional territorial spatial planning. Currently, there is a relative lack of attention to LD studies in China’s mountainous areas. Hence, we selected the western Sichuan urban agglomeration (WSUA), a typical mountainous-hills urban agglomeration, as the study area, and presented a work that investigates the tempo-spatial dynamics of LD from 2000 − 2020, based on the PLES theroy and an interdisciplinary LD assessment framework of “process-structures” in WSUA. Finally, the contribution of the driving factors system, including geophysical, economic, and social, was investigated using a spatially geo-detector and bivariate Moran's I methodologies. In this work, we found the remarkable living land sprawl, and the productive-ecological and ecological land showed a dramatic decline trend, with a total 21,845.2 ha decline from 2000 to 2020 in WSUA. Although an encouraging increase in ecological land has been observed after 2010 with a total of 220,650 ha, urban sprawl has offset ecological restoration efforts. The LD hotspot patterns in SWUA were categorized into four types, which have led to general fragmentation of PLES land, and mainly clustering under 14° slope due to the scarcity of suitable land resources. In addition, we found that the geophysical driving force also significantly influences LD in mountains urban compared with the socioeconomic pillars. Finally, we provided SWUA’s plan-makers with recommendations and spatial solutions programs for harmonizing the PLES land disturbance and achieving sustainable development.

Simulation on the Evolution Trend of the Urban Sprawl Spatial Pattern in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, China.

Urban sprawl has become the main pattern of spatial expansion in many large cities in China, and its ecological and environmental effects profoundly impact Chinese urban development. In this paper, nighttime light data and statistical yearbook data are adopted as basic data sources to simulate the evolution trend of the urban sprawl in the upper Yangtze River (UYR), China. First, the urban sprawl index (USI) is employed to assess the level of urban sprawl and to determine the characteristics of urban sprawl under different scales. Second, the spatial autocorrelation model is applied to reveal the spatial pattern change characteristics of urban sprawl from 1992 to 2015. Third, a scenario analysis model of urban sprawl is constructed to simulate the evolution trend of the urban sprawl under different scenarios. Finally, based on the Geodetector, the influence of factors and factor interactions influencing urban sprawl in different time periods is analyzed. The results yield the following main conclusions: (1) The urban sprawl in the UYR first intensifies and then stabilizes over time. The number of cities with high USI in Sichuan province, medium cities, and Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration increases over time, indicating that urban sprawl is intensifying in these areas. (2) The urban sprawl hot spots experience a pattern transformation process of point-like expansion-point-ring expansion-point-axis expansion-axis radiation. (3) Under the scenarios with different scales, the urban land sprawl in large cities is the highest, accounting for more than 47% of the UYR. Urban land sprawl extent in the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration is the highest, accounting for more than 51% of the UYR. The cities exhibiting the highest sprawl are Chongqing, Lijiang, and Kunming, accounting for 25.84%, 7.37%, and 5.11%, respectively, of the UYR. (4) In the different time scenario simulations, the urban land in large cities exhibits the highest sprawl, accounting for approximately 48.16% of the UYR. The urban land in the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration demonstrates the highest sprawl, accounting for 50.92% of the UYR. (5) From 1996 to 2002, the driver with the highest influence on urban sprawl was secondary industry share of GDP, with a q-statistic of 0.616. From 2009 to 2015, the driver with the highest influence on urban sprawl was green space per capita with a q-statistic of 0.396.

HOW SMART GROWTH CAN CURB URBAN SPRAWL: A CASE STUDY OF A RAPIDLY URBANIZING CITY IN KERALA, INDIA

Abstract. Cities begin to spread at an alarming rate as the world's urban population grows, resulting in a slew of socioeconomic, environmental, and ecological challenges. Urban sprawl, defined as low-density, non-contiguous, unplanned, unregulated, and uncoordinated outer expansion of cities, is associated with various negative consequences, including loss of arable land, environmental destruction, increased transportation costs, deterioration of the city center, and many others. Smart growth can be considered a potential remedy for the negative impacts of urbanization. The smart growth idea is centered on creating more lively, competitive, and habitable cities to address the deterioration and decay in urban systems caused by urban land sprawl. This article discusses the possibilities of smart Growth approaches as a tool for reducing undesirable urban sprawl. Furthermore, this study aims to capture the land use land cover (LULC) dynamics of Kozhikode Urban Agglomeration (KUA) from 1991 to 2021 using remote sensing and GIS techniques. This study aims to identify potential smart growth locations in KUA using Geographic Information System (GIS)-based modeling methods to mitigate the effects of uncontrolled urban sprawl. To get the most out of smart growth possibilities and effective sprawl reduction, future development activities should focus more on the identified potential hotspots of Smart Growth. The study demonstrated the application of the Smart Growth techniques in a sprawling tier-2 city of Kerala. The city planning authorities can use this technique for effective sprawl management and sustainable city planning.

URBAN GROWTH MONITORING – REMOTE SENSING METHODS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract. Urban areas account for a small fraction of the Earth's surface but have a disproportionate impact on its surroundings regarding mass, energy, and resources. An exponential increase in the urban population has been observed since the mid-20th century. As expected by the United Nations (UN), by the year 2050, 68.4% of the world population will live in cities with a population of 20,000 or more. Due to enormous socio-economic pressures resulting from population expansion, urbanization and intensive changes in the landscape, an urban development program to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable has become of the utmost importance since the 2005 World Summit in Rio and further adopted in 2015 by UN as the "2030 Agenda" for Sustainable Development. The study focused on monitoring the SDG 11 target 11.3.1. they are defined as a ratio of land consumption rate to the population growth rate because mapping urban land quickly and accurately is indispensable for watershed run-off prediction and other planning applications. There is no well-established, consistent way to measure either urban land sprawl or population growth. However, remote sensing methods and satellite-derived data make it possible to monitor urban growth rates over large areas in a relatively short time. There are many techniques for urban land cover automatically mapping. These techniques can be broadly grouped into two general types: those based on the input data classification, including pixel- and object-based classifications and those based on directly segmenting the indices, such as the commonly used normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized build-up area index (NDBI), and their modifications.The authors used classical pixel (supervised classification with Spectral Angle Mapper classification and KNN methods) and objectbased classification in the presented research. In addition, spectral indices, i.e., NDVI, NDBI and their modifications to derive buildup areas, were applied. Moreover, the authors focused on the recent deep learning and machine learning methods, i.e., the utilization of spatial-context information in multi-temporal data to learn hierarchical feature representations. All methods of detecting built-up areas were compared and assessed based on the available cartographic data.

Spatio-temporal changes of land use land cover and ecosystem service values in coastal Bangladesh

Increased human activity and dynamic climate variables have radically altered the global land use land cover (LULC) pattern and the ecosystem services (ES) they offer. However, assessing the impact of such LULC dynamics on ecological resources has rarely been attempted, especially in Bangladesh. Here, we assessed the dynamics of LULC change and associated ecosystem service values (ESVs) of coastal Bangladesh during 1999–2019 by analyzing historical Landsat LULC images and economic valuation techniques, respectively. Findings revealed a high prevalence of rural settlement-based Tree Outside Forest (TOF) land sprawl over agricultural land. Besides, LULC transition analysis revealed an increase in built-up, mangrove forest, water bodies, and saltpan/aquaculture areas and a decrease in agricultural and bare land areas. Overall, the ESV of coastal Bangladesh decreased by 0.47 billion US dollars, from US$ 25.18 billion in 1999 to US$ 24.71 billion in 2019. However, the values of different ES functions, such as food (−10.7%) and raw materials (−7.7%), were found most affected, while slight progress was evident in biodiversity protection (+2.2%), and water regulation (+1.1%) functions. Strong spatial dynamics of ESV changes were observed, with the largest decreases in the districts of Satkhira (−7.90%), Cox'sbazar (−5.75%), and Noakhali (−4.61%), and the highest increases in the districts of Lakshmipur (+4.65%) and Patuakhali (+3.18%). The findings regarding mangrove and TOF growth have important implications for building a buffer against ESV degradation due to the substantial decline in agricultural lands in other parts of the world with related socio-geographical and environmental problems.

Exploring the Linkage between Land Use Type and Stream Water Quality of an Estuarine Island Applying GWR Model: A Case Study of Chongming, Shanghai

To understand the spatial correlations between land use type and water quality of an estuarine island is particularly essential to maintain its original ecological environment. Chongming Island is experiencing a rapid urbanization and agriculture land sprawl during the last decades, especially with the growth of agro-industry and the extension of old style residences. As a consequence, surface run-off from agricultural activities and domestic sewage discharge has a various linkage with stream water quality on the island. This study applied ageographical weight regression model approach to recognize the significance of the relationship between water quality and multiple land use. We also evaluated their spatial correlations which normally hidden from other traditional regression methods. The results reveal that the water quality of less-developed areas on Chongming Island was easily affected by land use types compared with other regions, TN, TP, BOD5, COD were shown as the most significant responses among all the water quality indicators. Green land and water area had a reduced effect on nutrients, expansion of industrial land would continuously make a contribution of pollutants to the water environment. Suggestions should therefore be taken into consideration during the process of development planning, in order to prevent water contamination.

Does industrial land sprawl matter in land productivity? A case study of industrial parks of South Korea

Despite an enormous amount of research on the urban sprawl of residential and commercial land uses, little attention has been paid to the negative effects of the sprawl of industrial land development. Furthermore, there is increasing interest in industrial land productivity or efficiency of land use, which is emphasized in terms of preventing sprawl, but so far, there is no clear evidence about the “sprawl–land productivity” relationship.This study aims to understand whether and how industrial park sprawl is associated with land productivity, paying a special attention to a locational factor represented by the “sprawl index.” For methodology, we applied annual sprawl index for 697 industrial parks in South Korea from 2011 to 2020 using a modified gravity model, and conducted a panel regression model to estimate main factors affecting the land productivity of industrial parks. We also conducted specific panel regression models to examine how the influencing factors of land productivity vary by types of industrial parks.The results of the panel regression models indicate that industrial land developments with sprawled locations are negatively associated with land productivity, regardless of the types of industrial park. We also find that the age of industrial park, the designated area, industrial compositions, land sales rate, large metro cities, and the Seoul metropolitan area are positively associated with land productivity, while the number of firms in an industrial park and the distance to transportation services are negatively associated. The study provides a strong basis for improving land use policies to promote land productivity by preventing future sprawl of industrial lands and by facilitating sustainable and regenerative use of the existing industrial parks.

Changes in Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area since the Reform and Opening Up in China

Ecosystem services provide important support for the sustainable development of humans; these services are provided by various ecosystems, but they have been severely influenced by anthropogenic activities globally in the past several decades. To respond to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, this study investigated the changes in ecosystem structure and estimated the associated ecosystem services value (ESV) since China’s reform and opening-up policy in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), one of the most developed and populous areas of China. Our results showed that dramatic changes in ecosystem structure occurred in the GBA, characterized by unpresented construction land sprawl (an average of 148 km2/yr) and extensive farmland loss (an average of 111 km2/yr). The change size and rate of ecosystems from 2000 to 2010 was the biggest and fastest, followed by that from 1990 to 2000. The ESV of the study area showed an overall decreasing trend, declining from 464 billion yuan to 346 billion yuan. The ESV supported by forest ecosystems and water body ecosystems made dominant contributions to the total ESV, ranging from 92% to 95%. Strong spatial heterogeneity of the ESV of the GBA might be noted throughout the study period, with lower values in the central region and higher values in the surrounding region. To realize sustainable development in the GBA; this study strongly suggests that local governments, and the public, scientifically use various ecosystems and their services, focusing on vigorously protecting ecosystems with high and important ESVs, such as water body, wetland, forest, and farmland ecosystems.

Assessment of urban surface and canopy cooling strategies in high-rise residential communities

Abstract Increased artificial constructions due to urbanization absorb more solar radiation, making urban surface and air temperatures rise and affecting the energy performance of urban buildings and the human health. Many studies have reported that green facades and roofs, materials with high albedos can noticeably reduce building surface temperatures and cool the air in summer. However, little is known about the cooling effects and assessment of different mitigation strategies when they are adopted in a block scale. This study focuses on assessing and comparing the effects in the high-rise communities in Xi’an, China, which are a good representation of the city because they are composed of a high density of buildings, and they cover the majority of the current urban sprawl land. Simulations of three community prototypes through ENVI-met software were carried out in order to assess the mitigation techniques in terms of the ground surface, building surface, and vertical canopy air temperature decrease. The main techniques adopted were cool pavements, cool coating facades and roofs, green facades with ivy and green roofs with funkia and 15 cm substrates, and combinations of those. The statistical analysis results revealed that green roof can cool the roof more than the cool roof, while cool facade can cool the facade more than green facade. As to single mitigation strategy, the cool pavement have the most significant potential to decrease canopy air temperature. In general, the combination of different strategies had much more positive effects than single solution. These positive results indicate that the cooling strategies are urgently needed in the current urban construction to alleviate the urban heat island effect.

Implications of Low Carbon City Sustainability Strategies for 2050

Cities and urban areas are critical nodes of societal resource flows, responsible for both global and local sustainability implications. They are complex systems and understanding the implications of potential actions by cities is critical for progress towards sustainability. In this paper the future implications of sustainability strategies are assessed for 10 European cities by comparing two scenarios for 2050: a business-as-usual (BAU) and a post-carbon/sustainability scenario (PC2050) (generated by city stakeholders). The effects of the scenarios are assessed using a mixed methodology: a semi-quantitative sustainability indicator analysis, energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (both production-based and consumption-based accounting (PBA and CBA)), land-use spatial modelling, and cost–benefit analysis. The paper highlights the clear benefits of PC2050 with improved sustainability indicator results, reduced land sprawl (which averages 16% in BAU) and positive cost–benefit results. Nonetheless, inequality and segregation are a common concern. In addition, whilst PBA indicates a significant decrease (average decrease from 4.7 to 1.3 tCO2eq per capita) CBA demonstrates rising overall emissions from an average of 11 to 14.8 tCO2eq per capita. This is linked to rising affluence and consumption trends despite local improvements in GHG emissions, which highlights a need for cities to address consumption-based emissions.

A Multiscale Evaluation of the Coupling Relationship between Urban Land and Carbon Emissions: A Case Study of Chongqing, China

Exploring the coupling relationship between urban land and carbon emissions (CE) is one of the important premises for coordinating the urban development and the ecological environment. Due to the influence of the scale effect, a systematic evaluation of the CE at different scales will help to develop more reasonable strategies for low-carbon urban planning. However, corresponding studies are still lacking. Hence, two administrative scales (e.g., region and county) in Chongqing were selected as experimental objects to compare and analyze the CE at different scales using the spatiotemporal coupling and coupling coordination models. The results show that urban land and carbon emissions presented a significant growth trend in Chongqing at different scales from 2000 to 2015. The strength of the spatiotemporal coupling relationship between urban land and total carbon emissions gradually increased with increasing scale. At the regional scale, the high coupling coordination between urban land and total carbon emissions was mainly concentrated in the urban functional development region. Additionally, the high coupling coordination between urban land and carbon emission intensity (OI) was still located in the counties within the metropolitan region of Chongqing, but the low OI was mainly distributed in the counties in the northeastern and southeastern regions of Chongqing at the county level. This study illustrates the multiscale trend of CE and suggests differentiated urban land and carbon emission reduction policies for controlling urban land sprawl and reducing carbon emissions.

城市扩张过程中建设用地景观格局演变特征及其驱动力

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 城市扩张过程中建设用地景观格局演变特征及其驱动力 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201903260568 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金项目（31500388）；城市与区域生态国家重点实验室开放基金（SKLURE2016-2-3）；中国博士后科学基金（2016M601144）；大运河文化带建设研究院专项（DYH18YB04） Changes in landscape pattern of built-up land and its driving factors during urban sprawl Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:剖析城市扩张过程中建设用地景观格局演变特征及其驱动力，不仅有助于城市生态环境问题的解决，而且为城市用地结构优化、城市景观规划等工作提供科学依据。以快速城市化的中型城市-扬州市为例，利用多期（1995、2000、2005、2010年和2015年）Landsat卫星影像、乡镇水平的扬州统计年鉴等数据，运用景观格局分析、增强回归树（Boosted regression trees）等方法，研究建设用地的扩张模式、形态及景观格局，定量探究地理、社会和经济因子对景观格局的影响机制，从而明晰景观格局演变特征及其驱动力。结果表明，1995-2015年，建设用地面积持续增加，填充式（Infilling）、边缘式（Edge-expansion）和跳跃式（Leapfrog）3种扩张模式在各时段均有出现，但其优势度随着城市发展而改变。建设用地的形态在城市扩张的过程中经历着"集聚"和"扩散"的交替变化过程，景观格局则出现了同质化倾向，景观破碎化下降、聚合度增加。地理因子（海拔和到县市中心的距离）对景观格局的综合影响虽然高于社会经济，但它的影响力却随着城市发展呈现出下降趋势，社会经济的作用则逐渐增强。海拔和人口密度的增加会促进景观的破碎化、抑制景观的集聚；人口数量的增加会促进景观的集聚、降低景观的破碎化；其余因子（到县市中心的距离、人均GDP和第二产业占比）的作用则随城市的发展而发生转变，如人均GDP对景观破碎化的作用表现为"促进→抑制"的转变、第二产业则为"抑制→促进"。 Abstract:Understanding changes in the landscape pattern of built-up land its driving factors not only helps to solve the eco-environmental problems in cities but also provides a scientific basis for urban land use optimization and landscape planning. In this study, we used multi-source data (e.g., 30 m resolution Landsat images and statistical yearbooks) to analyze changes in sprawl mode, morphology and landscape pattern of built-up land in a rapidly urbanized medium-sized city-Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China. Furthermore, we employed the boosted regression tree method to quantify the effects of geographic and socioeconomic factors on landscape patterns of the built-up land, which revealed changes in the driving factors with the built-up land sprawl. The results showed that the area of the built-up land gradually increased from 1995 to 2015. All of the three sprawl modes (infilling, edge-expansion and leapfrog) appeared in each period, but their relative dominances varied with the built-up land sprawl. The morphology of the built-up land underwent an alternating process of "diffusion" and "coalescence", while the landscape pattern tended to homogenize (i.e., decreased fragmentation and increased aggregation of the built-up landscape). Geographical factors (altitude and distance from the geographical center of a county) played more important roles in shaping landscape pattern than socioeconomic factors. Moreover, the combined effects of geographical factors decreased with the built-up land sprawl, while socioeconomic effects became more significant. Landscape fragmentation of the built-up land increased with increasing altitude and population density and decreasing total population; meanwhile, the landscape aggregation was inhibited. However, effects of other factors (i.e., distance from the center of a county, GDP per capita, and the proportion of secondary industry) on landscape pattern varied with the built-up land sprawl. For example, the promoting effect of GDP per capita on landscape fragmentation turned to an inhibiting effect, while the inhibiting effect of secondary industry turned to a promoting one. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Evaluating the effectiveness of land use master plans in built-up land management: A case study of the Jinan Municipality, eastern China

China has implemented land use master plans to strictly control built-up land usage. The effective evaluation of land use master plan on controlling construction land is the premise of monitoring and early warning of planning implementation. It is also the basis for planning revision and further implementation of territorial spatial planning. In this study, we established a comprehensive index system based on three aspects: scale management, annual growth rhythm control, and spatial layout. We then analyzed the consistency between the actual situation for built-up land and the previous land use master plan of the Jinan Municipality in the Shandong Province of eastern China. The results showed that the master plan effectively controlled the scale of built-up land sprawl, such that the annual growth rhythm control level periodically increased over time. They also indicated the low efficiency of the built-up land spatial layout control. Overall, the previous land use master plan in Jinan had notable impacts. We recommend that land policy makers should adjust control standards and implementation intensity for spatial planning in the future to achieve scientific and effective planning for the management of construction land.

Geographical Modeling of Spatial Interaction between Built-Up Land Sprawl and Cultivated Landscape Eco-Security under Urbanization Gradient

Built-up land sprawl is the most intuitive manifestation and main cause of cultivated land pattern change. Understanding spatiotemporal change and its driving factors in the impact of built-up land sprawl on cultivated landscape eco-security under the urbanization gradient can reveal the nature of cultivated landscape ecological risk caused by urban sprawl and promote the scientific implementation of urban planning and cultivated land protection policies. Taking Yangzhou, a medium-sized city with rapid urbanization, as an example, we used multi-sources data (30 m resolution Landsat images in 1998, 2008, and 2018) to analyze the sprawl intensity and direction of built-up land and cultivated landscape ecological risk areas under the urbanization gradient and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the relationship between them. Further, we employed the boosted regression tree (BRT) model to quantify the effects of geographic, social, and economic factors on the impact of built-up land sprawl on cultivated landscape eco-security under different urbanization gradients. Results showed that built-up land sprawl rate increased first and then decreased from 1998 to 2018, forming the sprawl gradients of no. 1–8, no. 8–16, and no. 16–30 urban circle. Its sprawl direction is mainly 20°–90°, 190°–240°, and 305°–355°, whereas cultivated landscape ecological risk area is a continuous sprawl, and the sprawl gradient and direction of the main risk area are consistent with the built-up land. In 1998–2008, the main areas where built-up land sprawl affects cultivated landscape eco-security are located in no. 1–16 urban circle, 20°–55°. From 2008 to 2018, it was located in no. 16–26 urban circle, 305°–355°. In this process, the influence of geospatial factors decreases gradually over time but increases outwardly with the urbanization gradient. The influence of social factors decreases first with time and then increases with the urbanization gradient outward in space. Economic factors increase with time but decrease with the urbanization gradient. The influence of each factor varies greatly over time and with the urbanization gradient.

Modeling land use/land cover change and mapping morphological fragmentation of agricultural lands in Thrace Region/Turkey

Human factors such as development of new roads and urban and industrial areas have caused reduction and fragmentation of agricultural lands in Thrace Region as in many parts of the world over the past few decades. To minimize the negative impact of these anthropogenic activities, it is necessary to forecast spatiotemporal land use/land cover change and its effect on agricultural land fragmentation for future. In this study, first, land use/land cover change was simulated with CLUE-S model under three scenarios for 2050. Then, morphological fragmentation and disorder degree of agricultural lands were analyzed using land use/land cover change maps (1990 and 2014), simulation results (2050) and 1/25,000 Tekirdag Provincial Environmental Plan (2023). Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis and entropy methods were used to determine the spatiotemporal fragmentation degree in agricultural lands. Results of scenarios 1 and 2 demonstrate that urban areas will increase due to population growth, and increasing urban and industrial land sprawl will accelerate the decline and fragmentation of agricultural lands until 2050. However, loss and fragmentation of core agricultural lands for scenario 3 where the protection rules are applied will be less than scenarios 1 and 2. To mitigate further fragmentation in agricultural lands in the future, particularly artificial spatial development areas should be constructed on the zones with currently high entropy and fragmented small core pieces. This study, as a tool for performance review in regional planning, recommends a set of measures to control agricultural land fragmentation, such as more effective protection of remaining unfragmented areas.

Promotion incentives, infrastructure construction, and industrial landscapes in China

Industrial landscapes are an important component of urban landscapes and have attracted significant attention due to their rapid sprawl. However, few studies have shed light on the impact of institutions on industrial landscapes. This study investigates the forces driving the industrial landscape under China’s unique land use system in the context of political promotion tournaments. Stemming from institutional insights on promotion incentives, this study develops a novel framework to integrate short-term incentives, long-term incentives and infrastructure construction to explain the spatial patterns and to reveal the mechanisms of industrial landscapes in China. Based on land leasing data from 2006 to 2013, this study confirms that short-term promotion incentives affect industrial land development significantly, including competition intensity, age line, and tenure; meanwhile, long-term promotion incentives have indirect effects on industrial landscapes by promoting more infrastructure construction. This study contributes to institutional and structural knowledge to increase the understanding of rapid industrial landscapes, especially industrial land sprawl in China.

Quantifying Urban Sprawl and Its Driving Forces in China

Against the background that urbanization has proceeded quickly in China over the last two decades, a limited number of empirical researches have been performed for analyzing the measurement and driving forces of urban sprawl at the national and regional level. The article aims at using remote sensing derived data and administrative data (for statistical purposes) to investigate the development status of urban sprawl together with its driving forces. Compared with existing studies, NPP/VIIRS data and LandScan data were used here to examine urban sprawl from two different perspectives: urban population sprawl and urban land sprawl. Furthermore, we used population density as a counter-indicator of urban sprawl, and the regression results also prove the superiority of the urban sprawl designed by us. The main results show that the intensity of urban population sprawl and urban land sprawl has been enhanced. However, the upside-down between the inflow of migrants and the supply of urban construction land among different regions aggravates the intensity of urban sprawl. According to the regression analyses, the driving mechanism of urban sprawl in the eastern region relying on land finance and financial development has lost momentum for the limitation of urban construction land supply. The continuous outflow of population and loosely land supply have accelerated the intensity of urban land sprawl in the central and western regions. The findings of the article may help people to realize that urban sprawl has become a staggering reality among Chinese cities; thereby urban planners as well as policymakers should make some actions to hinder the urban sprawl.

Detecting spatio-temporal changes of arable land and construction land in the Beijing-Tianjin corridor during 2000–2015

Rapid peri-urbanization has become a new challenge for sustainable urban-rural development worldwide. To clarify how unprecedented urban sprawl at the metropolitan fringe impacts urban-rural landscape, this study took the Beijing-Tianjin corridor of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan area, one of the largest urban clusters in China, as a typical example. By using Landsat-based landscape metrics and a practical methodology, we investigated the landscape changes and discussed the potential reasons in the context of rapid peri-urbanization of China. Specifically, multi-temporal land use maps derived from Landsat images were used to calculate landscape metrics and analyze their characteristics along the urban-rural gradients. The practical methodology was used to monitor spatio-temporal characteristics of landscape change in large metropolitan areas. The results showed that landscape patterns in the area had changed greatly from 2000 to 2015 with characteristics of construction land sprawl and arable land shrinkage. The intensity and scale of landscape changes varied along the urban-rural gradients. Sampled plots in urbanized areas and rural areas demonstrated distinguishable landscape patterns and significant differences. Urban areas had more heterogeneous and fragmented landscapes than rural areas. Peri-urban areas in general experienced higher levels of land diversification than rural areas. Rural residential land appeared to be more aggregated near Beijing and Tianjin cities. Besides, our findings also indicated that urban expansion was largely responsible for landscape patterns. The findings of this study potentially provide strategical insights into landscape planning around mega cities and sustainable coordinated urban-rural development.

Construction land sprawl and reclamation in the Johor River Estuary of Malaysia since 1973

The Johor River is the main source of water in Johor Bahru and Singapore as well as a vital maritime passage in the eastern Straits of Johor. However, the Johor River Estuary (JRE) has been experiencing environmental degradation due to construction land sprawl and reclamation (CLSR), which shows a combined effect of anthropogenic environmental change. In this paper, the spatial and temporal variation of CLSR in the JRE was studied based on twelve multi-temporal Landsat images (Landsat MSS, TM and OLI) obtained from 1973 to 2017. The results showed that the area of construction land increased more than 10-fold from 1973 (13.33 km2) to 2017 (135.46 km2). Each type of construction land showed an increasing tendency, and their area-weighted centroids migrated towards the mouth of the Johor River. Over the last four decades, an increased land area of 40.32 km2 contributed by reclamation was mainly distributed in the Tekong Island and the eastern Singapore Islands, which shortened the minimum distance between lands in the JRE. The largest decrease in minimum distance was 1889 m between Johor Bahru and Tekong Island. CLSR is mainly driven by human activities such as population growth, economic development and policy change. To better protect the coastal environment in the JRE, construction land expansion and reclamation activities should be planned properly by the local government.