Spatial-Temporal Dynamic Analysis of Land Use and Landscape Pattern in Guangzhou, China: Exploring the Driving Forces from an Urban Sustainability Perspective

Abstract

Rapid urbanization is one of the most important factors causing land-use change, which mainly results from the orientation of government policies, adjustment of industrial structure, and migration of the rural population. Land use and land cover change (LUCC) is the natural foundation of urban development that is significantly influenced by human activities. By analyzing the LUCC and its inner driving force, as well as landscape pattern change, human activity and urban sustainable development can be better understood. This research adopted a geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technology to comprehensively analyze land use of Guangzhou, respectively, in 1995, 2005, and 2015. Fragmentation Statistics (FRAGSTATS) is the most authoritative software to calculate landscape metrics. Landscape pattern change was analyzed by FRAGSTATS. The results showed that urban land significantly increased from 16.33% in 1995 to 36.05% in 2015. Farmland greatly decreased from 45.16% in 1995 to 27.82% in 2005 and then slightly decreased to 25.10% in 2015. In the first decade, the non-agricultural conversion of rural land and the expansion of urban land was the dominant factor that led to the change. In the second decade, urban land had been supplemented through the redevelopment of low-efficiency land. The fragmentation of landscape patterns significantly increased from 1995 to 2005 and slightly decreased from 2005 to 2015. It indicated that the change in land use in the second decade was different from that in the first. This difference mainly resulted from three aspects: (1) urban development area and ecological conservation area were clearly defined in Guangzhou; (2) many small towns had developed into urban centers, and the scattered urban land gathered into these centers; (3) the establishment of greenway improved the connection of fragmented patches. After that, this study discussed land-use change and its causes and proposed the trend of urban development from the perspective of sustainability.