Research on the Human Dimensions of Land Use Changes in the Mega-Urban Region:A Case Study of the Pearl River Delta
巨型城市区域土地利用变化的人文因素分析——以珠江三角洲地区为例

After a brief review of the studies on the human dimensions of the land use changes within and outside China, this paper, taking the Pearl River Delta as the case study area, makes a thorough and careful study on the human dimensions that affect the land use changes in China's mega-urban region from the angles of qualitative and quantitative analysis by applying GIS spatial analysis techniques and the SPSS statistic analysis techniques (such as the factor analysis and the regression analysis) together upon the data collected from the government materials, the statistical data and the on-the-spot investigation records. The results of this research consist of two parts: first, the qualitative analysis shows that the human dimensions, including population, economic growth, urbanization and industrialization, government policies and so on, have a strong correlation with the land use changes in the Pearl River Delta, and all of these human dimensions have greatly affected and will continue to affect the land use changes in the mega-urban region of the Pearl River Delta. Second, the quantitative analysis, being the further and verified step of the qualitative analysis, reveals by means of the factor analysis and the regression analysis techniques that the major human dimensions that have influenced the land use changes are population factor, economic development level factor, urbanization and industrialization factor, agricultural structure adjustment factor, regional industrial structure factor and foreign investment factor. Clearly, this result, to some extent, is consistence with the conclusion of the qualitative analysis.