A Study on Mechanisms of the Interactions between LandUse Change and Tourism Development:A Case of Yangshuo County, Guangxi
风景名胜城市土地利用动态变化及与旅游发展的互动机理研究——以广西壮族自治区阳朔县为例

Numerous studies have focused on effects of land use change introduced byurbanization, industrialization and transportation system development and relevant feedbackmechanisms, issues concerning impacts of land use change on tourism development have receivedless attentions. In particular, fewer studies made an attempt to analyze mechanisms of theinteractions between dynamic land use change and tourism development process, which is theprimary objective of the study. The author performed a systematic study on land use change inYangshuo Country, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region based on analysis of remotely sensedimages acquired in years 1993, 1999 and 2005. Measurement indicators regarding land sue change,such as relative land use changing rate, comprehensive land use dynamic degree, space overlayanalysis and the spatial autocorrelation analysis were taken to make an attempt to comprehensivelydescribe the spatial and temporal patterns of the land use change. Mechanisms of the interactionsbetween land use change and tourism development were examined in detail. Results indicate that 1)amongst all land use types, the urban construction land has undergone the most dramatic changesince 1993; 2) measurements of the Moran and Geary coefficients of the construction land inYangshuo Country showed a transition from compactness to dispersion states in the spatialconfiguration, which was coincident with the outward development trend of the county; 3) therapid development of tourism industry required more land for tourism infrastructure, whichresulted in transitions from forest land and agriculture land to construction land; and 4) differentstages were distinct in the whole land use change process, with showing an inflection point in year1999. This means that prior to 1999, the development was characterized by urban sprawl under anoninterventionist traditional economy; after 1999 it has been characterized by an enclave-type ofexpansion propelled by the tourism industry. It is noticed that the land used for tourism industry hasbeen increasing at the expense of agricultural land and forest land. It is therefore essential toestablish an index system for the classification of tourism land uses, which can then serve as afoundation for assessing the tourism impacts on land use change. This is an issue that calls forfurther studies.