The Effect of Urban Planning Control upon Land Use in Shenzhen

Research on the implementation effect of urban planning has developed from qualitative study to quantitative study. In this way, this paper uses GIS technology, both quantitatively and qualitatively, along with related official materials as well as survey data, to understand the impact of urban planning upon land use of Shenzhen city. Accordingly, marked impacts of planning upon land use have been identified. After the 1980s, for instance, though the speed of the practical population increase is far beyond that estimated in urban plans, land use increase is effectively managed according to the plans of both 1982 and 1996. (1) Urban planning has effectively controlled and guided urban spatial structure of the city. Under the backdrop of high speed urbanization, urban structure has successfully kept an optimized structure. (2) Urban planning has successfully controlled the expansion of land use of the inner city, the so-called special economic development zone (SEDZ). The expansion of the new construction proceeds according to the planning. Nevertheless, the control of land use of the outer city is by no means success. The construction of the size besides the SEDZ has been largely out of control. Urban planning fails to adjust and control the sprawl of land use there. (3) Urban planning management also has significant impact upon the adjustment as well as control of land use. Specifically, the impacts of the authorization of the Construction Land Planning Permission Certificate is prominent, which results in massive engrossment of agricultural land, greens, trees, and waters, and therefore brings about massive change of land use across districts. In addition, a division between the inner city and the outer city is identified in terms of urban planning management. On the one hand, the control of land use within the SEDZ is very successful; on the other hand, however, land use out of the SEDZ is largely ineffective.