Expansion of Urban Space and Land Use Control in the Process of Urbanization: an Overview

Urban expansion brought by the rapid progress of urbanization has caused many problems in China. It is a significant issue to evaluate the extent of urban expansion and to make appropriate controls over the sprawl of urban areas. With a comparative study of international experiences, this article analyzed the mechanism and consequences of urban expansion, reviewed the typical planning and financial policies adopted by other countries for controlling urban sprawl, and discussed the suitable densities of urban areas. The analysis results suggested that Chinese cities have no better choice but compact urban forms. To achieve the goal of compact development, intensive use of public transportation and high proportion of collective houses should be encouraged, and 60–100 m2 per capita is recommended as the reasonable range of urban density in large cities.

Spatial-temporal Pattern and Differences of Land Use Changes in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area of China during 1975-2005

Regional land use changes are an important part of global changes.The research on land use changes in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area of China attracts a lot of attention owing to the Three Gorges Dam building.The Three Gorges Reservoir Area becomes one of the important research areas.This study analyzed the transforming processes and traits of each land use type and the regional differences of land use changes during the past 30 years,summarized the distribution of different land use types in different buffer zones and regresses the equation areas and different buffer distances based on buffer analyses and regression analyses,and then analyzed the transforming rules in different buffer distances,got the optimal influence distances.The research results indicate that,(1) cultivated land lies at the northwest of the reservoir and was decreasing,however,the construction land was increasing,especially the urban construction land,a large number of land was flooded because of the reservoir water level rise;(2) urban area was sprawling quickly in developed and neighboring areas,and a great deal of cultivated land and a considerable amount of grassland were occupied;in the earlier time,rural settlements occupied lots of cultivated land and a sum of forestry land in the later time;(3) the optimum influenced distances for cultivated land and forestry land were 10-35 km,and for urban and rural settlements were in 5-20 km.Overall,this research can reflect the spatial-temporal characteristics of land use changes during the 30 years,and it is helpful for urban planning and land use planning in the reservoir area.

Simulation Analysis on Spatial Pattern of Urban Population in Shenyang City,China in Late 20th Century

The spatial distribution of urban population can reflect significantly urban functions and development status. Shenyang, as a typical old industrial city in China, has experienced considerable changes in spatial distribution of population in the process of urban transformation, resulting in the change of urban spatial structure. Based on the sub-district data of Chinese national population censuses in 1982, 1990 and 2000, this study simulates the evolution pattern of spatial distribution of urban population in Shenyang City. Using statistical method and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA), we found that the population distribution, on the whole, has presented a balanced and decentralized trend since the 1980s, which characterizes with Chinese suburbanization. Furthermore, based on the investigation of the pattern of population distribution, it is concluded that the negative exponential model fitted the distribution best, and population concentration in the inner suburb kept increasing gradually, meanwhile, the spatial structure of population distribution has presented a polycentric feature since the 1980s. The parameters of the model show that population in the urban core concentrate significantly all the time. The increase of population in the inner suburb influences the population distribution pattern more and more importantly, but the concentration intensity of population cores in inner suburb is still low.

Spatial and Temporal Pattern of Urban Smart Development in China and Its Driving Mechanism

Smart urban development is an inevitable choice, and is essential to overall strength improvement. It is important to explore an urban smart development path which unites smart growth with driving shrinkage perfectly in forming scientific and sustainable development concept and responding to new normal strategic opportunities. Based on statistic data of 294 prefecture-level cities and above in China from 2000 to 2015, we analyzed spatial and temporal evolution of urban smart development in China by constructing a dynamic fitting model of urban land expansion, population growth, and economic development as well as the coefficient of variation of urban smart development(CVSD). Further efforts were then made to consider differential distribution regularity of urban smart development so as to understand the driving mechanisms of heterogeneous classification of urban smart development in China from different scales and scale variation. Our results indicate that: 1) the disordered growth tendency of urban cities in China is overall well controlled in the middle, and late research and it mainly presented a doublet coexistence of shrinkage disordered cities and smart developing cities. It is particularly obvious that Northeast China and East China have regarded shrinkage disordered cities and smart developing cities as main development tendency separately. 2) Areas with basic stability and relative variation were relatively dispersed across the time period, but the proportion was far beyond areas with significant variation. It demonstrates a relative equilibrium spatial and temporal differential evolution pattern of prefecture-level cities and above in China, except for Tongling, Lanzhou and Chaoyang. 3) prefecture-level cities and above in China are mostly characterized by shrinkage disordered and smart development classification under the background of different scale and scale variation from 2000–2015; however, the spatial resonance relation is not obvious. 4) There are many interaction factors forming an important driving mechanism in developing the spatial and temporal pattern of urban smart development in China, including natural geographical factors, industrial structure adjustment, human capital radiation, regional traffic accessibility, and government decision-making intervention.

Characteristics and Driving Forces of Spatial Expansion of Oasis Cities and Towns in Hexi Corridor, Gansu Province, China

This paper presents an integrated study of urban spatial expansion in the Hexi Corridor, Gansu Province, China based on TM, ETM remote sensing data in 1987, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2006 and 2011. The study explores the characteristics of urban spatial expansion and dynamic mechanism by using expansion speed index, expansion intensity index, compact index, fractal dimension, and extended flexibility index. We built the index system of influencing factors of urban spatial expansion by using the grey incidence model. The results showed that urban spatial expansion rate in the Hexi Corridor has been on the upward trend since 1987. Expansion intensity showed an obvious upward trend, however, the upward trend varied in different urban areas. In addition, the urban structure was loose relatively, but the urban compactness was more obvious. The urban spatial form tended to be simple, and the urban land use tended to become more intensive. Urban spatial expansion experienced several stages: padding internally, external expansion and padding internally. The main driving factors of urban spatial expansion are not the urban water resources and the oasis scale, but one or several factors such as economy, traffic, population, resource and national policy.

Spatial Structure of Central Places in Jilin Central Urban Agglomeration, Jilin Province, China

Using the radius of gyration from fractal theory, this paper describes the calculation of fractal dimensions for the four tiers of central places in the Jilin Central Urban Agglomeration(JCUA), Jilin Province, China and the structural characteristics of each tier: 1) the 1st tier central place, Changchun Proper(not including Shuangyang District), provides the most service functions and has the most stable primate position; 2) the 2nd tier central places, Jilin Proper, Siping Proper, Liaoyuan Proper and Songyuan Proper have unclear statuses and do not provide certain functions; 3) the 3rd tier central places comprise 23 county-level cities, counties and urban districts(including Shuangyang District of Changchun), exhibiting a dense spatial structure that agrees with theory; 4) the 4th tier contains the largest number of central places(248 designated towns), but they are loosely distributed. In this study, a spatial image of the JCUA was created, based on vectorized data of the urban settlement distribution, which was then modified and abstracted to create a hexagonal network covering the JCUA. Compared to the traditional central place model, the modified spatial image conforms to the K = 3 principle. In reality, however, the growth of some 3rd tier central places should be increased with the cities being upgraded to the 2nd tier so as to overcome that tier′s functional deficiency. The loose distribution in the 4th tier should also be changed. This apparent anomaly can be explained by the fact that the classic hexagon model used to describe the way market areas layout does not exist in the real world. However, this should not be viewed as an obstacle to using central place theory. If its assumptions are properly applied, it can still assist research into the spatial structure of regions.

Hollow Villages and Rural Restructuring in Major Rural Regions of China: A Case Study of Yucheng City, Shandong Province

The agricultural land resources of China are relatively limited because of its large population.Therefore,balancing the land use for industrialization,urbanization,and food security is a big challenge.In recent years,rural hollowing in China has resulted in numerous of abandoned rural houses,and the areas with abandoned houses need to be restored into agricultural land with effective land consolidation techniques.This study used the method of benefit-cost analysis and the data collected through field surveys conducted in Yucheng City in the northwest of Shandong Province in March 2009,to examine how hollow villages (HVs) to be created and how to solve the problem.The qualitative and quantitative analyses indicate following results.1) The situation of HVs is becoming increasingly severe under rapid industrialization and urbanization in Yucheng City.2) Poor infrastructure in rural areas and incomplete urbanization are the main factors that have led to the rural hollowing in many major rural regions of China.3) In order to resolve the problem caused by HVs and increase agricultural land,reconstructing rural communities in the countryside is necessary.4) A new mechanism in the provision of compensation funds by developed regions to the villages in less-developed regions must be established.

Spatio-temporal Fragmentation of Leisure Activities in Information Era： Empirical Evidence from Nanjing, China

Activity fragmentation provides a new approach for understanding the transformation of urban space and function in the information era. Numerous theoretical and empirical studies have been conducted on activity fragmentation, but few studies have focused on the fragmentation of leisure activities. This study was intended to extend the extant literature by: 1) analysing the spatio-temporal fragmentation of physical and virtual leisure activities by using a dataset collected in Nanjing, China, and 2) evaluating the reasons of leisure activity fragmentation, as well as the potential spatial effect of activity fragmentation. The results indicated that virtual leisure activities are more fragmented than physical leisure activities, but the fragmentation of physical and virtual leisure activities varies on weekday and weekend, as well as in various locations and urban districts. In addition, the results suggested that sociodemographic factors and information and communication technology(ICT) variables distinctly affect the fragmentation of leisure activities. Meanwhile, the fragmentation of virtual leisure activities may enhance the transformation of traditional urban space by reallocating leisure activity times and locations.

Excess Commuting in Transitional Urban China:A Case Study of Guangzhou

During the reform era, Chinese cities witnessed dramatic institutional transformation and spatial restructuring in general and profound change of commuting patterns in particular. Using household surveys collected in Guangzhou, China, in 2001, 2005 and 2010, excess commuting measurements are estimated. Excess commuting shows an overall trend of increasing during 1990–1999, and then declining during 2000–2010. We argue that deepening marketization of the jobs and housing sectors has induced spatial separation of jobs and housing. In other words, institutional transition and urban spatial restructuring are underpinning the changes of commuting patterns in Chinese cities. Excess commuting has strong relationship with individual socio-demographic status, which is by and large due to the increasing flexibilities of jobs and housing location choices enjoyed by urban residents. The findings call for considerations on balancing jobs-housing in making public policies relevant to urban development in general, and land use and transportation in particular.

Evolution Stages of Oasis Economy and Its Dependence on Natural Resources in Tarim River Basin

This paper examines spatio-temporal characteristics of an oasis economy and its relationship with water and mineral resources in the Tarim River Basin from 1965 to 2005. A spatial autocorrelation model, the center of gravity model, and index system of the regional central city are used to probe the evolution laws of spatial structure of oasis economy. The study finds that: 1) The economic centre of gravity, whose variation track during this period follows linear rate law, was moving from headstream to middle reaches of the Tarim River. 2) Positive spatial autocorrelation which showed a waving and ascending trend of regional economy was significant and the neighbor effect of regional economic growth was strengthened continuously. 3) The regional economic centre was located in Hotan City before 1980, moved to Aksu City during the 1980s and to Korla City after 1990. We conclude that above all, during the recent four decades the evolution of the oasis economy in this region has gone through three stages: a traditional agriculture stage (before 1980), oasis agriculture and agricultural product processing stage (1980–1990) and oasis energy industry stage (after 1990). Furthermore, the dependence degree of the oasis economy on natural resources in different stages are studied by using dominance index, regression model, and grey relation method, which shows that an oasis econ- omy highly depends on water resources in the oasis agriculture and agricultural product processing stage while it de- pends more on mineral resources such as oil and natural gas during the oasis energy industry stage.

Spatio-temporal Patterns of Intra-urban Land Use Change in Beijing,China Between 1984 and 2008

Urban internal structure is essential information for urban geography researchers and urban planners or managers. This research aims to examine the spatial structure changes of internal urban land use based on the interpreted datasets of 1984 and 2008. Spatio-temporal patterns of internal land use conversion and urban expansion are analyzed, and then dominant driving factors (e.g., social economy, population growth and urban planning) were identified. The results indicate that Beijing′s intra-urban layout has experienced tremendous adjustment from compact to disperse configure, otherwise its function objects have shifted from the major economic and industrial development before the 1990s to the combination with cultural, high-technological and inhabitable city at present. The dominant urban land use transformations include the relocation of industrial lands from core districts to suburban or other provinces, and the accelerating expansion of residential areas and green spaces for supplying the demand of housing and ecological protection. Although Beijing′s urban planning has experienced three major adjustments and improvement since the 1980s, its optimization of urban internal patterns still remains a challenge.

Gentrification and Residential Differentiation in Nanjing,China

The institutional environment in China has quite evidently changed during modern socio-economic transitions.Driven both by local government and by marketing force,urban social space was redistributed after the reform of urban land and real estate policies.Urban renewal makes for wide differential rent and therefore gentrification is occurring in China.This paper analyzes the background and institutional environment of gentrification in China,and further discusses the process,characteristics and evolutionary mechanisms in the case of Nanjing,through investigation of the attributes of 1075 residential communities built during the 1998-2008 at a macro level,and interviewing the residents and analyzing questionnaires in 6 different and typical communities at a micro level.As a socio-spatial course of two-way interaction,gentrification is divided into 3 stages of incubation,occurrence and fast development,according to the time of landmark events and policy reform on the leasehold of land in Nanjing during socio-economic transition.In terms of the socio-spatial characteristics of gentrification in Nanjing,the gentrification process under the trajectory of urban renewal makes urban social space present a new circle-layer structure;the rise of quite a number of gated communities results in the fragmentation of social space and privatization of public space;the management mode of modern communities and the change of life style have aggravated the indifference of neighborhood relationship of gentrified communities.Based on the empirical evidence of this study,this paper indicates that gentrification is quite different between China and western countries with respect to spatio-temporal order,dominant forces,paths of realization and spatial expression,and it further reveals the dynamic mechanism of gentrification developing in China at the present stage.

Changes of Residential Land Density and Spatial Pattern from 1989 to 2004 in Jinan City,China

Urban sprawl is driven by a myriad of factors, the predominant one of which is the development of residential land. Selecting part of Jinan City for a case study, we use the landscape metric of percent of landscape (PLAND) to capture residential land growth and density changes in 1989, 1996 and 2004 to illuminate the dynamic process of residential land development. The results indicate that the moving window method and the landscape metrics method are efficient ways to describe residential land density. The residential land showed the greatest change among the built-up land with 1995.68 ha from 1989 to 2004, which is mainly transformed from agriculture land and green space. The urban center area of study area is primarily covered with medium density residential land, and surrounded by high density residential land. The development pattern of residential land exhibited both fill-in (new growth occurs through infilling the free spaces within the developed area) and sprawl processes, influenced by a series of factors, such as urban development policy, conservation of springs, recreational and aesthetic amenities. The findings of the study will help to guide urban planning with a focus on the management and protection of the environment and resources.

Spatial Differences of Coastal Urban Expansion in China from 1970s to 2013

As the ′economic engines′ of China,coastal cities have developed and expanded considerably since the 1970 s.In this study,information on the urban expansion process of Chinese coastal cities from the 1970 s to 2013 was retrieved.Through the analysis of stage characteristics,spatial expansion modes,influences on land use,centroid shifts,and spatial morphological evolutions,the spatial differences of coastal urban expansion were revealed.Results indicate that 1) the expansion stages of southern coastal cities are more complex than those of northern coastal cities,and the expansion ranges and speeds of the former are far higher than those of the latter;2) the spatial expansion of southern coastal cities mostly adopt a single mode,whereas northern coastal cities mostly adopt a mixed mode;3) significant spatial differences in the occupations of different land sources exist between the south and the north along the coastline;4) the centroid of coastal cities tends to migrate toward the coastline,and the centroid shift distances of southern coastal cities are clearly higher than those of northern coastal cities;and 5) the spatial morphology of southern coastal cities tends to be compact,whereas that of northern coastal cities tends to be loose.Policies have a powerful significance in terms of guiding urban expansion and its spatial differences in coastal cities.Urban expansion in coastal cities will encounter new opportunities and challenges under the guidance of new types of urbanization strategies.

Temporal and spatial differences and imbalance of China's urbanization development during 1950-2006

A better understanding of the regional disparity and imbalance characteristics of China's urbanization development is the important premise for constituting correct policy and strategy and promoting the healthy and sustainable development of urbanization in the 21st century. The regional differences of China's urbanization level have close relations with natural conditions of landform and climate etc.,the urbanization level reduces with the eleva-tion of topography and decrease of precipitation. According to the statistical data set of ur-banization in 1950-2006,the temporal change course of inter-provincial disparity of Chinese urbanization level since the founding of New China in 1949 was studied,and then the inter-regional and intra-regional disparities of urbanization development were analyzed by the Theil index and its nested decomposition method,to grasp the dynamic change of spatial disparities of China's urbanization level on the whole. Using the imbalance index model,the imbalance status of urban population distribution relative to total population,grain output,total agricultural output value,gross output value of industry,tertiary industrial output value as well as gross regional product was discussed,to hold the balance characteristics of urbanization development relative to the regional development conditions from the macroscopic scales.

Field Modeling Method for Identifying Urban Sphere of Influence:A Case Study on Central China

With rapid development of urbanization and regional interaction and interdependence, regional urban agglomeration planning becomes more and more important in China, in order to promote integrated development of various cities with close interrelationship. However, it is still arguable academically on how to define the boundary or which cities to be included for the urban agglomeration of a region. This paper aims to shed lights on how to identify urban spheres of influence scientifically by introducing field modeling method and by practicing a case study on 168 cities in Central China. In our field modeling method, the influence intensities of cities were measured by a compre-ensive index and urban spheres of influence were represented spatially by field intensity. Then, their classification and spatial distribution characteristics of study area in 2007 were identified and explored by using GIS and statistical methods. The result showed that： 1） Wuhan is the absolute dominant city in Central China; 2） the provincial capital cities dominate their own provinces and there are no other lower grade agglomeration centers; and 3） the basic types of organization form of urban sphere of influence are single-polar type, agglomeration type, close-related group type and loose-related group type.

Distribution of primary school based on spatial network comprehensive model in low-income mountainous cities： a case study in Wanyuan, China

Focusing on the peculiarities of urban construction resulting from specific mountain terrains, the purpose of this study is to find out a suitable method based on a Spatial Network Comprehensive Model(SNCM) to reasonably plan and distribute primary schools in low-income mountain cities. The construction principles and advantages of the SNCM method are proposed and the method tested in Wanyuan city of Qinba Mountain area(Southwest China) to verify its feasibility and optimization. Taking account of the mountain terrain and its influence on user behavior, we used the SNCM method to build a comprehensive model which integrates the road slope and the walking speed of pupils into the basic spatial model. The model is used to calculate a reasonable layout of the primary schools and to validate the rationale. The results show that the SNCM method can be effectively applied in low-income mountainous cities. It can not only improve the accessibility and service efficiency of primary schools using as little capital-investment as possible, but also help the city grow in an intensive and efficient way.

Characterization of Air Pollution in Urban Areas of Yangtze River Delta,China

The hallmark of development in the Yangtze River Delta(YRD) of East China has been sprawling urbanization. However, air pollution is a significant problem in these urban areas. In this paper, we investigated and analyzed the air pollution index(API) in four cities(Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Ningbo) in the YRD from 2001 to 2012. We attempted to empirically examine the relationship between meteorological factors and air quality in the urban areas of the YRD. According to the monitoring data, the API in Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou slightly declined and that in Ningbo increased over the study period. We analyzed the inter-annual, seasonal, and monthly variations of API, from which we found that the air quality had different temporal changes in the four cities. It was indicated that air quality was poor in winter and spring and best in summer. Furthermore, different weather conditions affected air quality level. The wind direction was considered as an important and influential factor to air pollution, which has an impact on the accumulating or cleaning processes of pollutants. The air quality was influenced by the different wind directions that varied with seasons and cities.

Environmental Effects of Foreign Trade and Its Spatial Variations in Mid-eastern Provinces and Cities of China

The studies on environmental effects of foreign trade and its spatial variations are helpful to design and implement environmental protection countermeasures.In order to eliminate the adverse effects of insufficient observation values on the accuracy of regression results and dynamic information quantity of fitting equation during empirical study,panel data of the mid-eastern provinces and cities of China from 1985 to 2007 were selected based on the adjustment of classical regression model in this paper.Panel unit root test and panel cointegration analysis method were applied to investigating the environmental effects of foreign trade and its spatial variations in the mid-eastern provinces and cities of China and its three groups divided by foreign trade dependence.The results show that all scale effects are positive,while all technical effects are negative and unable to counteract positive scale effects.Foreign trade development is regarded as an important cause for outstanding eco-environmental problems in the mid-eastern provinces and cities of China.Total effects and structural effects are significantly different among different groups because of spatial variations in environmental policies,export destinations,source of FDI,etc.Following the principle of′coordinating generality and considering differences comprehensively′,it is essential to issue a series of policies and countermeasures corresponding to differences in regional environmental effect of foreign trade,in order to coordinate the relationship between foreign trade development and eco-environment in each region.