Dynamics and Driving Forces of Shenyang City Expansion
沈阳市城区扩展动态监测与驱动力分析

During the process of urbanization, changes in the urban marginal zone are the most substantial and rapid, so gathering information on land use change in this marginal zone is a crucial component of research on urban expansion. The first section of the paper describes the interpretation of different remote sensing images (MSS, TM, ETM, and CBERS-2) to assess urban expansion and land use change in Shenyang from 1979 to 2005. The second part involves quantitative analysis of 23 factors related to driving forces, in three categories-social, economic and technical-to analyze the drivers of Shenyang's urban expansion from 1996 to 2005. The rate and direction of urban expansion were highly variable during the study period. The built-up area of Shenyang was 163.33km2 in 1979 and expanded to 360.5km2 to 2006, an increase of 197.17km2. The city scale in 2006 was 2.2 times that of 1979, with an average annual expansion of 7.3km2. Built-up area expanded most rapidly during 2001 to 2006, largely expanding towards the south and north to form new satellite towns, while the city center experienced relatively little change. The urban expansion had some influence on land use in the urban marginal zone, mainly that urban expansion occupied farmland and that separate urban areas and rural areas became consolidated into the built-up district. The total area influenced was 157.78km2, accounting for 80.02% of total expansion area. The area of water bodies and forested land influenced by urban expansion was small, only 39.39km2, or 19.98% of the total expansion area. There were two principal sets of factors affecting Shenyang urban expansion: population and economic factors and technical factors. The effect of these driving forces on urban expansion has increased gradually, so that population growth, economic development, enhanced transportation and technological advancement have all contributed to city expansion, and their influence has strengthened. National economic and policy support has provided the broader development opportunities for Shenyang and promoted the city's expansion.