Construction of GI Network Based on MSPA and PLUS Model in the Main Urban Area of Zhengzhou: A Case Study

Abstract

With continuous urbanization and the fragmentation of green areas that affect human well-being, the establishment of a green infrastructure (GI) network is important in future urban planning. As a National Central City, Zhengzhou has a large population and is undergoing rapid economic development, resulting in an urgent demand for green space within the city in recent years. We selected the main urban area of Zhengzhou as the study area based on the two phases of Landsat 8 satellite remote sensing image data, for 2016 and 2021, and used the patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model to predict the spatial distribution of GI in the future; compared with traditional methods, this method identified green spaces from a future perspective. A GI network—consisting of an open space with vegetation as the main body—was designed for the main urban area of Zhengzhou using the traditional landscape ecological pattern theory, integrating morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, circuit theory, and other methods. Evidently, the area of green space in Zhengzhou City in 2021 was 36 231.6 hm2. GI prediction results indicate that continuous expansion of the main urban area did not result in significant changes in the size of GI in the city. The GI within the urban area was relatively fragmented, forming 15 GI hubs, most of which were densely distributed along the edges of the main urban area. This study proposed the construction of a GI network with a target corridor and target points based on the existing corridor. This included the identification of seven target corridors and 15 target hubs; the total length of the corridor was 77.032 km, with a total of 31 target points. In summary, the GI network pattern of “one protection barrier, two lines, three loops and more points” was proposed. With new urban problems constantly emerging, this research could provide a theoretical reference basis for the planning of GI in the main urban area of the National Central City. The study provides concrete evidence on the optimum pattern for the construction of GI networks in cities with large populations.

Heterogeneity and optimization of ecological security pattern on a mountain town: A case of Tianzhu County in the Hexi Corridor, China

“…Ecological source patches mainly select objects with good habitat quality and high value of ecological services as targets, such as ecological wetland parks, forest reserves, nature reserves, scenic spots, and other green patches (Zhang et al, 2022). Elevation and slope affect the spatial distribution and utilization of land resources Tang et al, 2022).…”

Construction of an Ecological Security Pattern in Yangtze River Delta Based on Circuit Theory

“…Morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) is an image processing technique employed by Vogt and other researchers to assess, identify, and segment the spatial patterns in raster images. This method is based on mathematical morphology principles such as erosion, expansion, opening operation, and closing operation structure [17,53]. MSPA can reflect the structural connectivity of corridors [54] and is an effective way to analyze ecological networks.…”

“…For example, the method of establishing ENs has been proposed by Hofman et al EN provides an effective reference for biodiversity conservation [13,14]. The concept of GI was proposed in America [11], the purpose of which is to adapt to climate change [15], improve air quality [16], increase public interest and participation, and so on [17,18]. ESP, EN, and GI relate to the territorial system of ecological stability (TSES).…”

Construction and Optimization of an Ecological Network in the Comprehensive Land Consolidation Project of a Small Rural Town in Southeast China

“…This study adopts a method based on the ecological safety index, which is constructed from the background characteristics of the ecological environment and the potential threats to it. Commonly used ecological security constraints include elevation, slope, landscape type, vegetation cover, distance from water bodies, distance from roads and distance from residential areas in combination with each ecological safety constraint factor [48,49,58]. The SPCA and expert scoring methods are used to evaluate and classify the ecological safety level of a specific area.…”

“…Most of the existing research on landscape connectivity is concerned with the construction and optimization of regional ecological networks [48,49]. However, most existing studies use municipal boundaries or complete geographic units as the study area, using data at large and medium scales.…”