Understanding the Diversity of Urban–Rural Fringe Development in a Fast Urbanizing Region of China

The territories between urban and rural areas, also called urban–rural fringe, commonly present inherent instability and notable heterogeneity. However, investigating the multifaceted urban–rural fringe phenomenon based on large-scale identification has yet to be undertaken. In this study, we adopted a handy clustering-based method by incorporating multidimensional urbanization indicators to understand how the urban–rural fringe development vary across space and shift over time in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration, China. The results show that (1) the growth magnitude of urban–rural fringe areas was greater than urban areas, whereas their growth rate was remarkably lower. (2) The landscape dynamics of urban–rural fringe varied markedly between fast-developing and slow-developing cities. Peripheral sprawl, inter-urban bridge, and isolated growth were the representative development patterns of urban–rural fringe in this case. (3) Urban–rural fringe development has predominantly occurred where cultivated land is available, and significant inter-provincial differences and tendency shifts have been found in the land cover change processes therein. Our findings indicate that the urban–rural fringe development should be considered as a stage-dependent and place-specific process. This work extends previous knowledge by unraveling the diversity of urban–rural fringe in a fast urbanizing region, and can provide insights into reorienting the spatial planning and land use management within the urban–rural interface.