Spatial Expansion of Urban Land Use and Its Driving Forces in Shenyang City over the Past Century
百年沈阳城市土地利用空间扩展及其驱动力分析

With economic development of China, the process of urbanization and the scale of cities expedite greatly. Examining mechanisms of urban land expansion and analyzing urban expansion motivation in Shenyang City can provide a basis for rational allocation of land resources and future development plans there. This study built an urban land use expansion database for the last a hundred years in Shenyang City using an object-oriented information extraction method combined with a variety of data sources. On the basis of this, characteristics of the range, speed, and morphology evolution of urban land use expansion during the past century in Shenyang City were investigated using a land use velocity model of land use, a land use dynamic degree model, and spatial analysis methods. Results show that spatial extension of land utilization in Shenyang was considerably large over the last one hundred years. The total area of land use was only 21.05 km2 in 1910; however, it was 480 km2 in 2010, 22.8 times of that of 1910. Expansion was most significant during the period 2010-1996, showing an area of 218.6 km2, which was 60% of the total extension area during the study period. The least expansion occurred before the founding of the People's Republic of China, showing an area of 62.65 km2, accounting for 17% of the total amount. In general, the speed and direction of spatial expansion of urban land use was not balanced. The most rapid urban expansion took place during the period 1996-2010, with a mean annual expansion of 15.61 km2. Urban expansion was, however, most slow for 1910-1931, showing a mean annual expansion of 0.88 km2. In this context, spatial morphology of urban land use evolved gradually. Urban space expanded consistently to the external circle layer with time lapse, expanding mostly towards east and west. The urban morphology exhibited an east-west belt before the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially after the reform and opening up. In contrast, the city expanded towards south and north, showing a palm shape. The underlying factors driving the land use change were analyzed using the factor analysis method. Results indicate that social change is the dynamic factor for the land use expansion. Institutional change is the fundamental reason for the land use expansion. Economic transition is the intrinsic reason for the land use expansion, i.e., the land use expansion is a process of adaption to social and economic development. Population change is the direct cause of the land use expansion. Adjustment of the industrial structure primarily affects the evolution of land use spatial structure.