Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Urban expansion in China and its effect on cultivated land before and after initiating “Reform and Open Policy”

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Science China Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Urbanization in China has expanded at an unprecedented speed since the declaration of “Reform and Open Policy” and presented many challenges. Unbalanced regional development, appearance of super megacities and concomitant problems, and conflicts between urbanization and cultivated land protection are three critical problems that Chinese urbanization has to face. To develop new plans for foreseeable future urbanization in China, it is critical to understand the evolving history of cities across China. This study maps urban expansion of 60 typical Chinese cities based on large amount of remote sensing data and the labor-intensive image interpretation method, in order to understand the history of urban expansion from the 1970s to 2013. Results showed that area of cities expanded 5.23 times compared to their area in the 1970s. Urban expansion in China accelerated three times (1988–1996, 1999–2006, and 2009–2011) and decelerated three times (1997–1998, 2007–2008, and 2012–2013) over the 40 years. The urban area of South China expanded most significantly 9.42 times, while the urban area in Northeast China expanded only 2.37 times. The disparity among different administrative ranks of cities was even greater than (3.81 times) the differences among different regions. Super megacities have been continuously expanding at a fast rate (8.60-fold), and have not shown obvious signs of slowing down. The proportion of cultivated land among the land sources for urban expansion decreased to a small extent in the 1990s, but cultivated land continues to be the major land source for urban expansion. Effective future urbanization needs controlling the expansion scale of large cities and reasonably developing medium and small cities, as well as balancing regional development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnfield A J. 2003. Two decades of urban climate research: A review of turbulence, exchanges of energy and water, and the urban heat island. Int J Climatol, 23: 1–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deng X, Huang J, Rozelle S, Zhang J, Li Z. 2015. Impact of urbanization on cultivated land changes in China. Land Use Policy, 45: 1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang C, Wang Z. 2015. Quantitative diagnoses and comprehensive evaluations of the rationality of Chinese urban development patterns. Sustainability, 7: 3859–3884

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths P, Hostert P, Gruebner O, der Linden S. 2010. Mapping megacity growth with multi-sensor data. Remote Sens Environ, 114: 426–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm N B, Faeth S H, Golubiewski N E, Redman C L, Wu J, Bai X, Briggs J M. 2008. Global change and the ecology of cities. Science, 319: 756–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haack B, Bryant N, Adams S. 1987. An assessment of landsat MSS and TM data for urban and near-urban land-cover digital classification. Remote Sens Environ, 21: 201–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hahs A K, McDonnell M J, McCarthy M A, Vesk P A, Corlett R T, Norton B A, Clemants S E, Duncan R P, Thompson K, Schwartz M W, Williams N S G. 2009. A global synthesis of plant extinction rates in urban areas. Ecol Lett, 12: 1165–1173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herold M, Goldstein N C, Clarke K C. 2003. The spatiotemporal form of urban growth: Measurement, analysis and modeling. Remote Sens Environ, 86: 286–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Islam K R, Weil R R. 2000. Land use effects on soil quality in a tropical forest ecosystem of Bangladesh. Agric Ecosyst Environ, 79: 9–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji C Y, Liu Q, Sun D, Wang S, Lin P, Li X. 2001. Monitoring urban expansion with remote sensing in China. Int J Remote Sens, 22: 1441–1455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang F, Liu S, Yuan H, Zhang Q. 2007. Measuring urban sprawl in Beijing with geo-spatial indices. J Geogr Sci, 17: 469–478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li F, Wang R, Paulussen J, Liu X. 2005. Comprehensive concept planning of urban greening based on ecological principles: A case study in Beijing, China. Landscape Urban Plan, 72: 325–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li G D, Fang C L. 2013. A Review on divergence of regional economic growth in China (in Chinese). Prog Geogr, 32: 1102–1112

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin X, Wang Y, Wang S, Wang D. 2015. Spatial differences and driving forces of land urbanization in China. J Geogr Sci, 25: 545–558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu J, Zhang Q, Hu Y. 2012. Regional differences of China’s urban expansion from late 20th to early 21st century based on remote sensing information. Chin Geogr Sci, 22: 1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu D D. 2007. Urbanization process and spatial sprawl in China (in Chinese). Urban Plann Forum, 4: 47–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Masek J G, Lindsay F E, Goward S N. 2000. Dynamics of urban growth in the Washington DC metropolitan area, 1973−1996, from Landsat observations. Int J Remote Sens, 21: 3473–3486

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People’s Republic of China (MOHURD). 1999. City Planning Basic Terminology Standards (in Chinese). GB/T 50280–98. Beijing: China Building Industry Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramachandra T V, Bharath A H, Sowmyashree M V. 2015. Monitoring urbanization and its implications in a mega city from space: Spatiotemporal patterns and its indicators. J Environ Manage, 148: 67–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ran Y H, Li X. 2015. First comprehensive fine-resolution global land cover map in the world from China―Comments on global land cover map at 30-m resolution. Sci China Earth Sci, 58: 1677–1678

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenfeld D. 2000. Suppression of rain and snow by urban and industrial air pollution. Science, 287: 1793–1796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider A, Mertes C M. 2014. Expansion and growth in Chinese cities, 1978–2010. Environ Res Lett, 9: 024008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider A, Woodcock C E. 2008. Compact, dispersed, fragmented, extensive? A comparison of urban growth in twenty-five global cities using remotely sensed data, pattern metrics and census information. Urban Stud, 45: 659–692

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seto K C, Fragkias M, Güneralp B, Reilly M K, Añel J A. 2011. A Meta- Analysis of Global Urban Land Expansion. PLoS ONE, 6: e23777

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seto K C, Kaufmann R K. 2003. Modeling the drivers of urban land use change in the Pearl River Delta, China: Integrating remote sensing with socioeconomic data. Land Econ, 79: 106–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seto K C, Kaufmann R K, Woodcock C E. 2000. Landsat reveals China’s farmland reserves, but they’re vanishing fast. Nature, 406: 121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd J M, Pierce H, Negri A J. 2002. Rainfall Modification by Major Urban Areas: Observations from spaceborne rain radar on the TRMM satellite. J Appl Meteor, 41: 689–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi J C. 2014. Enhancing remote sensing research on global change to improve our understanding on Earth system processes. Sci China Earth Sci, 57: 2281–2282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shin H B. 2015. Urbanization in China. In: Wright J D, ed. International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 973–979

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sun Y, Zhao S, Qu W. 2015. Quantifying spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion in three capital cities in Northeast China over the past three decades using satellite data sets. Environ Earth Sci, 73: 7221–7235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tian G, Jiang J, Yang Z, Zhang Y. 2011. The urban growth, size distribution and spatio-temporal dynamic pattern of the Yangtze River Delta megalopolitan region, China. Ecol Model, 222: 865–878

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Li C C, Ying Q, Cheng X, Wang X Y, Li X Y, Hu L Y, Liang L, Yu L, Huang H B, Gong P. 2012. China’s urban expansion from 1990 to 2010 determined with satellite remote sensing. Chin Sci Bull, 57: 2802–2812

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber A, Fohrer N, Möller D. 2001. Long-term land use changes in a mesoscale watershed due to socio-economic factors: Effects on landscape structures and functions. Ecol Model, 140: 125–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu W, Zhao S, Zhu C, Jiang J. 2015. A comparative study of urban expansion in Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang over the past three decades. Landscape Urban Plan, 134: 93–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xue Z J. 2014. Improve Rural Urbanization in China (in Chinese). J Lover, 11: 45–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z X, Zhao X L, Liu F, Xu J Y, Wen Q K, Hu S G. 2014a. Atlas of Urban Expansion by Remote Sensing in China (in Chinese). Beijing: Star Map Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z, Wang X, Zhao X, Liu B, Yi L, Zuo L, Wen Q, Liu F, Xu J, Hu S. 2014b. A 2010 update of National Land Use/Cover Database of China at 1:100000 scale using medium spatial resolution satellite images. Remote Sens Environ, 149: 142–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Z, Zheng B H. 2012. Study on spatial structure of yangtze river delta urban agglomeration and its effects on urban and rural regions. J Urban Plann Dev, 138: 78–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhong B, Ma P, Nie A H, Yang A X, Yao Y J, Lü W B, Zhang H, Liu Q H. 2014. Land cover mapping using time series HJ-1/CCD data. Sci China Earth Sci, 57: 1790–1799

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    ZengXiang Zhang, QingKe Wen, Fang Liu, XiaoLi Zhao, Bin Liu, JinYong Xu, Ling Yi, ShunGuang Hu, Xiao Wang, LiJun Zuo, Na Li, MinMin Li, LiFeng Shi, Tian Zeng & HongRun Ju

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Na Li, MinMin Li, LiFeng Shi, Tian Zeng & HongRun Ju

Authors
  1. ZengXiang Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. QingKe Wen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fang Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. XiaoLi Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Bin Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. JinYong Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ling Yi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. ShunGuang Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Xiao Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. LiJun Zuo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Na Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. MinMin Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. LiFeng Shi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Tian Zeng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. HongRun Ju
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to QingKe Wen.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, Z., Wen, Q., Liu, F. et al. Urban expansion in China and its effect on cultivated land before and after initiating “Reform and Open Policy”. Sci. China Earth Sci. 59, 1930–1945 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-015-0160-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-015-0160-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation