URBAN EXPANSION AND ITS DRIVING FORCE ANALYSIS USING REMOTE SENSED DATA——A CASE OF XIAMEN CITY

The study on the urban expansion and the driving forces of Xiamen city in SE China during the 11-year study period from 1989-2000 was carried out using the remote sensing thematic information extraction and spatial overlay technique. The area,rate and direction of the urban expansion during the study period in the respective region of Xiamen city were obtained. Moreover, the proportion of the land use occupied by the urban and the driving forces of the urban expansion were also analyzed. The result revealed that the speed of urban expansion in Xiamen city was quick and the urban area in 2000 was almost twice more than that in 1989. The arable land around the urban was main occupied land use type due to the urban expansion. The study also showed that the main driving forces causing urban expansion included the high-speed development of economic of Xiamen city, the foreign continual investment and the mountainous topographical environment.