Urban Expansion Process, Pattern, and Land Use Response in an Urban Mining Composited Zone from 1986 to 2013

This paper examines features, patterns, and driving forces of urban expansion in a urban-mining composited zone from 1986 to 2013 with geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS). Urban land information was extracted from remote sensing images of 1986, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2009, and 2013 to analyze the variation characteristics of urban land in quantity and spatial distribution. Expansion intensity, barycenter of urban land, and urban compactness are usedto analyze the expansion features of urban land over 27 years, describe the expansion types in each period, and discuss the expansion pattern. Additional analyses are conducted to determine the driving forces of urban expansion. The research results are as follows. Firstly, the area of urban land presented a trend of linear increase, with the expansion intensity index indicating a trend of exponential growth, and gentle expansion alternating with dramatic expansion. Secondly, urban land sprawled in a distinct concentric pattern around one center at first and two centers later. Thirdly, there were five expansion types during the 27 years, including westward-slow-concentrated expansion, westward-slow-scattered expansion, eastward-moderate-scattered expansion, eastward-moderate-concentrated expansion, and westward-dramatic-scattered expansion. Finally, the compactness of urban land fluctuated in 1986–2013, which implies that internal enrichment expansion and external extending appeared alternately. Furthermore, by analyzing natural and social economic data, four factors are considered as driving forces of urban expansion in Pingshuo mining area of China: limitation from landform, relative policies, increase of economy, and the development of mining area. Urban expansion and mining activities have resulted in dramatic landscape changes, which are studied by five landscape metrics. This study provides a typical case of urban expansion in an urban mining composited zone, and the findings can help provide better understanding of the process and mechanism of urban expansion in this kind of area.