Abstract:Changing land use and urban expansion are key drivers of global environmental change, which are inevitable consequences of economic and social development for many cities. Most land use changes have a negative impact on the natural environment, especially due to their effects on surface temperature, runoff and habitat diversity. Due to the limitation of local government funding and expenditure, it is a challenge for developing countries to create strategies for urban sustainability. This study provided a systematic assessment method for simulating and analyzing the future impacts and spatial patterns of urban growth via cellular automata and cluster analysis. We used Tainan as a study area and compared the impact of future urban spatial development during two periods : 1993-2008 and 2008-2030. The results indicate that the impact of this development on the natural environment can be divided into six clusters. With an increased distance from the city center, there were increased changes in surface temperature and a decreased amount of runoff. These results indicate the occurrence of urban expansion, with habitat diversity being greater in areas governed by policies or ordinances.
This study describes a new assessment model framework, termed the driving forces-pressure-state-impact-policy and pattern (DPSIP) model, for environmental change efficiency in urban land development, based on urban sustainable development and the theory of economic efficiency evaluation. A spatial and measurable efficiency value is defined for environmental changes in urban land development, which provides a comprehensive evaluation index for the efficiency of urban development and its environmental impact. This type of urban interior sustainability is considered new within the context of global environmental changes. We identify nine important indicators to evaluate the relative efficiency of 233 neighborhoods in Tainan, Taiwan. The results indicate that the average environmental change efficiency is 89.44%, which shows clear spatial differentiation. The key indicators affecting the efficiency score are area, population density, location, mixed land uses, the floor area ratio, and the impervious ratio. In the future, urban design can reduce environmental impacts and enhance efficiency values.
The change of urban land-use has had an environmental impact. Although there had already been many case studies discussing the impact to the natural environment for urban land-use in the past, most research failed to explain spatial analysis more deeply and to master the spatial characteristic of the environmental impact. In this paper, we developed a systematic approach for the environmental impact analysis in urban areas that integrates spatial statistical analysis and GIS technology. In terms of the impact, we describe four important environmental performance indicators to evaluate the impact of urban land use change more thoroughly on heat island effects, run-off and habitat diversity which have been used from recent studies, and then evaluated and compared the characteristics of environmental impact and spatial pattern of urban land use change. This study provides a procedure of analysis for environmental impact and future spatial planning. The results also indicated that the environmental impact of land use change was gradually reducing when considering the concept of sustainable development.
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