Spatio-temporal changes in urban green space in 107 Chinese cities (1990–2019): The role of economic drivers and policy
Urban green space (UGS) has gained increasing attention due to its environmental and social functions. However, the compound effects of climate change, population growth and economic development on UGS are largely unknown. We selected 107 medium-sized and large cities in China to investigate dynamic...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2021-12-01
|
| Series: | International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303243421002324 |
| _version_ | 1828296395623235584 |
|---|---|
| author | Wan-Ben Wu Jun Ma Michael E. Meadows Ellen Banzhaf Tian-Yuan Huang Yi-Fei Liu Bin Zhao |
| author_facet | Wan-Ben Wu Jun Ma Michael E. Meadows Ellen Banzhaf Tian-Yuan Huang Yi-Fei Liu Bin Zhao |
| author_sort | Wan-Ben Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban green space (UGS) has gained increasing attention due to its environmental and social functions. However, the compound effects of climate change, population growth and economic development on UGS are largely unknown. We selected 107 medium-sized and large cities in China to investigate dynamics in the spatial pattern of UGS in relation to government policy and other drivers based on remote sensing data for the period 1990 to 2019. To explore the effect of different levels of urbanization on changes in green space, we develop a new Normalized Urban Development Index (NUDI) to classify urban-suburban-rural gradients, viz. Long-term Built-up, New Built-up and Non-Built-up. Then, we analysed changes over time in the annual peak value of fraction of vegetation cover (FVC) for 380,000 cloud-free Landsat images, and regional UGS dynamics were evaluated using the proposed Regional Greenness Dynamic Index (RGDI). Finally, to reveal the major driver(s) of changes in UGS and estimate the extent to which patterns of urban greening are due to differences in economic development, we compared the observed UGS spatio-temporal dynamics with data on several climatic, social-economic and land use related factors for the same period. The NUDI are shown to be highly effective in mapping urban development gradients, with overall accuracy in the identified classes of 89%. Annual maximum FVC analysis indicates that there was significant greening between 1990 and 2019 in both the long-term built up (10,667.52 km2) and the non-built up areas (529,310.47 km2), while there was a major increase in browning (25,110.43 km2) in the newly built-up areas. The RGDI results indicate that 65% (71/107) of long-term built-up areas in cities trended greener over 2010 to 2019 under consideration. At the whole city scale, RGDI is negatively correlated with gross domestic product (GDP), although when considering the long-term built-up areas only, economic growth exhibits a significant positive correlation during 2010 to 2019 (R = 0.62, p < 0.01). This study offers important insights as to the patterns of change in urban greening extent over time and its underyling drivers across urban-suburban-rural gradients against the background of urban expansion, afforestation, climate change and economic development. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:10:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-49cbf6074b7249ab8682a74548e3beff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1569-8432 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:10:27Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation |
| spelling | doaj.art-49cbf6074b7249ab8682a74548e3beff2022-12-22T02:47:29ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation1569-84322021-12-01103102525Spatio-temporal changes in urban green space in 107 Chinese cities (1990–2019): The role of economic drivers and policyWan-Ben Wu0Jun Ma1Michael E. Meadows2Ellen Banzhaf3Tian-Yuan Huang4Yi-Fei Liu5Bin Zhao6Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, and Shanghai Institute of EcoChongming (SIEC), Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, and Shanghai Institute of EcoChongming (SIEC), Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, ChinaDepartment of Environmental & Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7701, South AfricaUFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Environmental Sociology, Leipzig, GermanyNational Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, and Shanghai Institute of EcoChongming (SIEC), Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, and Shanghai Institute of EcoChongming (SIEC), Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; Corresponding author at: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.Urban green space (UGS) has gained increasing attention due to its environmental and social functions. However, the compound effects of climate change, population growth and economic development on UGS are largely unknown. We selected 107 medium-sized and large cities in China to investigate dynamics in the spatial pattern of UGS in relation to government policy and other drivers based on remote sensing data for the period 1990 to 2019. To explore the effect of different levels of urbanization on changes in green space, we develop a new Normalized Urban Development Index (NUDI) to classify urban-suburban-rural gradients, viz. Long-term Built-up, New Built-up and Non-Built-up. Then, we analysed changes over time in the annual peak value of fraction of vegetation cover (FVC) for 380,000 cloud-free Landsat images, and regional UGS dynamics were evaluated using the proposed Regional Greenness Dynamic Index (RGDI). Finally, to reveal the major driver(s) of changes in UGS and estimate the extent to which patterns of urban greening are due to differences in economic development, we compared the observed UGS spatio-temporal dynamics with data on several climatic, social-economic and land use related factors for the same period. The NUDI are shown to be highly effective in mapping urban development gradients, with overall accuracy in the identified classes of 89%. Annual maximum FVC analysis indicates that there was significant greening between 1990 and 2019 in both the long-term built up (10,667.52 km2) and the non-built up areas (529,310.47 km2), while there was a major increase in browning (25,110.43 km2) in the newly built-up areas. The RGDI results indicate that 65% (71/107) of long-term built-up areas in cities trended greener over 2010 to 2019 under consideration. At the whole city scale, RGDI is negatively correlated with gross domestic product (GDP), although when considering the long-term built-up areas only, economic growth exhibits a significant positive correlation during 2010 to 2019 (R = 0.62, p < 0.01). This study offers important insights as to the patterns of change in urban greening extent over time and its underyling drivers across urban-suburban-rural gradients against the background of urban expansion, afforestation, climate change and economic development.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303243421002324Normalized Urban Development IndexRegional Greenness Dynamic IndexUrbanisationGoogle Earth EngineNight-time light |
| spellingShingle | Wan-Ben Wu Jun Ma Michael E. Meadows Ellen Banzhaf Tian-Yuan Huang Yi-Fei Liu Bin Zhao Spatio-temporal changes in urban green space in 107 Chinese cities (1990–2019): The role of economic drivers and policy International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation Normalized Urban Development Index Regional Greenness Dynamic Index Urbanisation Google Earth Engine Night-time light |
| title | Spatio-temporal changes in urban green space in 107 Chinese cities (1990–2019): The role of economic drivers and policy |
| title_full | Spatio-temporal changes in urban green space in 107 Chinese cities (1990–2019): The role of economic drivers and policy |
| title_fullStr | Spatio-temporal changes in urban green space in 107 Chinese cities (1990–2019): The role of economic drivers and policy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatio-temporal changes in urban green space in 107 Chinese cities (1990–2019): The role of economic drivers and policy |
| title_short | Spatio-temporal changes in urban green space in 107 Chinese cities (1990–2019): The role of economic drivers and policy |
| title_sort | spatio temporal changes in urban green space in 107 chinese cities 1990 2019 the role of economic drivers and policy |
| topic | Normalized Urban Development Index Regional Greenness Dynamic Index Urbanisation Google Earth Engine Night-time light |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303243421002324 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wanbenwu spatiotemporalchangesinurbangreenspacein107chinesecities19902019theroleofeconomicdriversandpolicy AT junma spatiotemporalchangesinurbangreenspacein107chinesecities19902019theroleofeconomicdriversandpolicy AT michaelemeadows spatiotemporalchangesinurbangreenspacein107chinesecities19902019theroleofeconomicdriversandpolicy AT ellenbanzhaf spatiotemporalchangesinurbangreenspacein107chinesecities19902019theroleofeconomicdriversandpolicy AT tianyuanhuang spatiotemporalchangesinurbangreenspacein107chinesecities19902019theroleofeconomicdriversandpolicy AT yifeiliu spatiotemporalchangesinurbangreenspacein107chinesecities19902019theroleofeconomicdriversandpolicy AT binzhao spatiotemporalchangesinurbangreenspacein107chinesecities19902019theroleofeconomicdriversandpolicy |