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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Watershed Physical Processes Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #316220
Title: Urban land expansion in Quanzhou City, China, 1995-2010

Author
item BIN, QUAN - Hunan University Of Science And Technology
item BAI, YIJUN - Hunan University Of Science And Technology
item ROMKENS, MATHIAS - Retired ARS Employee
item CHANG, KANG-TSUNG - Kainan University
item SONG, HUI - Hunan University Of Science And Technology
item GUO, TAO - Hunan University Of Science And Technology
item LEI, SHI - Hunan University Of Science And Technology

Submitted to: Habitat International
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/26/2015
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The rapid industrialization of China has led to substantial changes in land use in the areas of Guangdong and Fujian in south east China which straddle the coastal areas along the major east-west seal lands between Europe and Japan, have economically benefited from industrial development. The population has rapidly grown and the population density has substantially increased thereby straining the available land base to meet the industrial, residential, and commercial needs. As a result, large areas, formerly used for agricultural production and forest land have been converted to meet these needs. This article assesses the changes commercial, and residential land has increased at the expense of agricultural and forest land. The purpose of this study is to provide a better basis for land use planning in serving other areas in China for healthy and friendly economic conditions and environmentally where living conditions and work are in harmony.

Technical Abstract: With its phenomenal development in recent decades, urbanization in China has been covered in a large number of studies. These studies have focused on large cities, with smaller and lesser known cities largely overlooked. This study analyzed the spatiotemporal changes of land use in Quanzhou, a historical city in Fujian Province, using GIS and remote sensing tools. Based on the land use change indices and spatial metrics, our results showed that built-up (urban) land in Quanzhou increased more than twofold in 1995-2010, at the expense of cultivated land, woodland, and grassland. During the same period, urban land patches increased in both number and size, while becoming more irregular and complex in shape. Most urban land expansion took place in the coastal areas, including the city districts and development and industrial zones. Although urbanization in Quanzhou has been remarkable since 1995, its average rate of urban land expansion has fallen behind Shenzhen and Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta. Geographic location and population growth are two important factors for the difference. Quanzhou is located in a less developed region of China, and its population growth has been slow due to its heavy reliance on labor-intensive, low-technology industries, which do not offer sufficient ruraldurban wage differential to attract large inflows of migrant workers. Urbanization in China follows different paths in different cities and regions, as shown in this study by comparing Quanzhou with cities in the Pearl River Delta.