Compact,Dispersed,Fragmented,Extensive? A Comparison of Urban Growth in Twenty-five Global Cities using Remotely Sensed Data,Pattern Metrics and Census Information
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online March, 2008
Compact,Dispersed,Fragmented,Extensive? A Comparison of Urban Growth in Twenty-five Global Cities using Remotely Sensed Data,Pattern Metrics and Census Information
Despite growing recognition of the important role of cities in economic, political and environmental systems across the world, comparative, global-scale research on cities is severely limited. This paper examines the similarities and differences in urban form and growth that have occurred across 25 mid-sized cities from different geographical settings and levels of economic development. The results reveal four city types: low-growth cities with modest rates of infilling; high-growth cities with rapid, fragmented development; expansive-growth cities with extensive dispersion at low population densities; and frantic-growth cities with extraordinary land conversion rates at high population densities. Although all 25 cities are expanding, the results suggest that cities outside the US do not exhibit the dispersed spatial forms characteristic of American urban sprawl.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alberti, M. (2005) The effects of urban patterns on ecosystem function , International Regional Science Review, 28, pp. 168—192 .
2.
Alonso, W. (1964) Location and Land Use: Toward a General Theory of Land Rent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
3.
Antrop, M. (2004) Landscape change and the urbanization process in Europe , Landscape and Urban Planning, 67, pp. 9—26 .
4.
Arnold, C.L. and Gibbons, C.J. (1996) Impervious surface coverage: the emergence of a key environmental indicator , Journal of the American Planning Association, 62, pp. 243—258 .
5.
Audirac, I. (2003) Information-age landscapes outside the developed world: Bangalore, India and Guadalajara, Mexico ,Journal of the American Planning Association, 69, pp. 16—32 .
6.
Barnesley, M.J. and Barr, S.L. (1996) Inferring urban land use from satellite sensor images using kernal-based spatial reclassification , Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 62, pp. 949—958 .
7.
Batty, M. and Longley, P.S. (1988) The morphology of urban land use , Environment and Planning B, 15, pp. 461—488 .
8.
Blumenfeld, H. (1954) The tidal wave of metropolitan expansion , Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 20, pp. 3—14 .
9.
Boyce, R.R. (1966) The edge of the metropolis: the wave theory analog approach , British Columbia Geographical Series, 7, pp. 31—40 .
10.
Brueckner, J.K. (2001) Urban sprawl: diagnosis and remedies , International Regional Science Review, 23, pp. 160—171 .
11.
Burchfield, M. , Overman, H.G. , Puga, D. and Turner, M.A. (2006) Causes of sprawl: a portrait from space , Quarterly Journal of Economics, pp. 587—633 .
12.
Burgess, E.W. (1925/ 1967) The growth of the city: an introduction to a research project, in: R. E. Park , E. W. Burgess and R. D. McKenzie (Eds) The City, pp. 47—62. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
13.
Castells, M. (1996) The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Vol. 1, The Rise of the Network Society. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc.
14.
Chan, J.C.W. , Chan, K.P. and Yeh, A.G.O. (2001) Detecting the nature of change in an urban environment: a comparison of machine learning algorithms , Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 67, pp. 213—225 .
15.
Christaller, W. (1933) Die zentralen Orte in Suddeutschland. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc .
16.
Cohen, B. (2004) Urban growth in developing countries: a review of current trends and a caution regarding existing forecasts , World Development, 32, pp. 23—51 .
17.
Congalton, R.G. (1991) A review of assessing the accuracy of classifications of remotely sensed data , Remote Sensing of Environment, 37, pp. 35—46 .
18.
Deng, F.F. and Huang, Y.Q. (2004) Uneven land reform and urban sprawl in China: the case of Beijing , Progress in Planning, 61, pp. 211—236 .
19.
Dietzel, C. , Herold, M. , Hemphill, J. and Clarke, K.C. (2005) Spatio-temporal dynamics in California's Central Valley: empirical links to urban theory,InternationalJournal of GeographicalInformation Science, 19, pp. 175—195 .
20.
Dougherty, M. , Dymond, R.L. , Goetz, S. et al. (2004) Evaluation of impervious surface estimates in a rapidly urbanizing watershed , Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 70, pp. 1275—1284 .
21.
Duranton, G. and Puga, D. (2005) From sectoral to functional urban specialization , Journal of Urban Economics, 57, pp. 343—370 .
22.
Ehlers, M. , Jadkowski, M.A. , Howard, R.R. and Brostuen, D.E. (1990) Application of SPOT data for regional growth analysis and local planning , Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 56, pp. 175—180 .
23.
El-Nasser, H. and Overberg, P. (2001) A comprehensive look at sprawl in America , USA Today, 22 February, p. 1 .
24.
Ewing, R. (1997) Is Los Angeles style sprawl desirable? , Journal of the American Planning Association, 63, pp. 107—126 .
25.
Ewing, R. , Pendall, R. and Chen, D. (2002) Measuring sprawl and its impact: the character and consequences of metropolitan expansion. Smart Growth America, Washington, DC ( http://www.smartgrowthamerica.com/sprawlindex/sprawlindex.html; accessed 15 January 2007).
26.
Filion, P. , Bunting, T. and Warriner, K. (1999) The entrenchment of urban dispersion: residential preferences and location patterns in the dispersed city , Urban Studies, 36, pp. 1317—1347 .
27.
Forster, B.C. (1985) An examination of some problems and solutions in monitoring urban areas from satellite platforms , International Journal of Remote Sensing, 6, pp. 139—151 .
28.
Frenkel, A. (2004) A land-consumption model: its application to Israel's future spatial development , Journal of the American Planning Association, 70, pp. 453—470 .
29.
Fujita, M. , Krugman, P. and Venables, A.J. (1999) The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions and International Trade. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
30.
Galster, G. , Hanson, R. , Ratcliffe, M. et al. (2001) Wrestling sprawl to the ground: defining and measuring an elusive concept , Housing Policy Debate, 12, pp. 681—718 .
31.
Gao, J. and Skillcorn, D. (1998) Capability of SPOT XS data in producing detailed land cover maps at the urban rural periphery , International Journal of Remote Sensing, 19, pp. 2877—2891 .
32.
GLCF (Global Land Cover Facility) (2005) University of Maryland (http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu ; accessed 15 January 2007).
33.
Gopal, S. and Woodcock, C. (1994) Theory and methods for accuracy assessment of thematic maps using fuzzy sets , Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 60, pp. 181—188 .
34.
Gordon, P. and Richardson, H.W. (1997) Are compact cities a desirable planning goal? , Journal of the American Planning Association , 63, pp. 95—106 .
35.
Green, K. , Kempka, D. and Lackey, L. (1994) Using remote sensing to detect and monitor land cover and land use change , Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 60, pp. 331—337 .
36.
Hammer, R.B. , Stewart, S.I. , Winkler, R.L. et al. (2004) Characterizing dynamic spatial and temporal residential density patterns from 1940—1990 across the north central United States , Landscape and Urban Planning, 69, pp. 183—199 .
37.
Harris, C.D. and Ullman, E.L. (1945) The nature of cities , Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 242, pp. 7—17 .
38.
Hasse, J.E. and Lathrop, R.G. (2003) Land resource impact indicators of urban sprawl , Applied Geography, 23, pp. 159—175 .
39.
Herold, M. , Goldstein, N.C. and Clarke, K.C. (2003) The spatiotemporal form of urban growth: measurement, analysis and modeling , Remote Sensing of Environment, 86, pp. 286—302 .
40.
Howarth, P.J. and Boasson, E. (1983) Landsat digital enhancements for change detection in urban environments , Remote Sensing of Environment, 13, pp. 149—160 .
41.
Hoyt, H. (1939) The structure and growth of residential neighborhoods in American cities. USFederal Housing Administration, Washington, DC.
42.
Jensen, J.R. and Cowen, D.C. (1999) Remote sensing of urban/suburban infrastructure and socioeconomic attributes , Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 65, pp. 611—622 .
43.
Jensen, J.R. and Toll, D.L. (1982) Detecting residential land use development at the urban fringe , Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing , 48, pp. 629—643 .
44.
Johnson, M. (2001) Environmental impacts of urban sprawl: a survey of the literature and proposed research agenda , Environment and Planning A, 33, pp. 717—735 .
45.
Kasanko, M. , Barredo, J.I. , Lavalle, C. et al. (2006) Are European cities becoming dispersed? A comparative analysis of 15 European urban areas, Landscape and UrbanPlanning, 77(1/2), pp. 111—130 .
46.
Korcelli, P. (1976) Theory of intra-urban structure: review and synthesis . A cross-cultural perspective, Geographica Polonica, 31, pp. 99—131 .
47.
Langevin, C. and Stow, D.A. (2004) Identifying change in a dynamic urban landscape: a neural network approach to map-updating , Progress in Planning , 61, pp. 327—348 .
48.
Lata, K.M. , Prasad, V.K. , Badarinath, V.S. et al. (2003) Measuring urban sprawl: a case study of Hyderabad . Discussion Paper, Geographic Information Science Development Applications (http://www.gisdevelopment.net ; accessed 15 January 2007).
49.
Li, H. and Wu, J. (2004) Use and misuse of landscape metrics , Landscape Ecology, 19, pp. 389—399 .
50.
Liang, Z. and Ma, Z. (2004) China's floating population: new evidence from the 2000 census , Population and Development Review, 30, pp. 467—488 .
51.
Longley, P.A. and Mesev, V. (2000) On the measurement and generalization of urban form , Environment and Planning A, 32, pp. 473—488 .
52.
Lopez, R. and Hynes, H.P. (2003) Sprawl in the 1990s: measurement, distribution and trends , Urban Affairs Review, 38, pp. 325—355 .
53.
Luck, M. and Wu, J. (2002) A gradient analysis of urban landscape pattern: a case study from the Phoenix metropolitan region, Arizona, USA , Landscape Ecology, 17, pp. 327—339 .
54.
Lunetta, R.S. , Johnson, D.M. , Lyon, J.G. et al. (2004) Impacts of imagery temporal frequency on land-cover change detection monitoring , Remote Sensing of Environment, 89, pp. 444—454 .
55.
Mas, J.F. (1999) Monitoring land cover changes: a comparison of change detection techniques , International Journal of Remote Sensing, 20, pp. 139—152 .
56.
McGarigal, K. and Marks, B.J. (1995) Fragstats: spatial pattern analysis program for quantifying landscape structure. General Technical Report PNW-GTR-351, Northwest Research Station, USDA-Forest Service, Portland, Oregon .
57.
Moomaw, R.L. and Shatter, A.M. (1996) Urbanization and economic development: a bias towards large cities? , Journal of Urban Economics, 40, pp. 13—37 .
58.
Mubarak, F.A. (2004) Urban growth boundary policy and residential suburbanization: Riyadh , Saudi Arabia, Habitat International, 28, pp. 567—591 .
59.
Muth, R.F. (1969) Cities and Housing. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
60.
Nechyba, T.J. and Walsh, R.P. (2004) Urban sprawl. Working Paper, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, MA.
61.
Paola, J.D. and Schowengerdt, R.A. (1995) A detailed comparison of backpropagation neural network and maximum likelihood classifiers for urban land use classification , IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 33, pp. 981—996 .
62.
Rea, L.M. and Parker, R.A. (1992) Designing and Conducting Survey Research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass Publishers .
63.
Rogan, J. and Chen, D.M. (2004) Remote sensing technology for mapping and monitoring land cover and land use change , Progress in Planning, 61, pp. 267—297 .
64.
Schneider,A. (2005) Urban growth as a component of global change. PhD thesis, Boston University, Massachusetts .
65.
Schneider, A. , Friedl, M.A. , McIver, D.K. and Woodcock, C.E. (2003) Mapping urban areas by fusing multiple sources of coarse resolution remotely sensed data , Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 69, pp. 1377—1386 .
66.
Schneider,A. , Seto, K.C. and Webster, D.R. (2005) Urban growth in Chengdu, Western China: application of remote sensing to assess planning and policy outcomes , Environment and Planning B, 32, pp. 323—345 .
67.
Seto, K.C. , Kaufmann, R.K. and Woodcock, C.E. (2000) Landsat reveals China's farmland reserves—but they're vanishing fast , Nature, 406, p. 121 .
68.
Seto, K.C. , Woodcock, C.E. , Song, C. et al. (2002) Monitoring land-use change in the Pearl River Delta using Landsat TM , International Journal of Remote Sensing, 23, pp. 1985—2004 .
69.
Singh, A. (1989) Digital change detection techniques using remotely sensed data , International Journal of Remote Sensing, 10, pp. 989—1003 .
70.
Song, C.H. and Woodcock, C.E. (2003) Monitoring forest succession with multitemporal Landsat images: factors of uncertainty , IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 41, pp. 2557—2567 .
71.
Squires, G.D. (2002) Urban Sprawl: Causes, Consequences and Policy Responses . Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press .
72.
Stefanov, W.L. , Ramsey, M.S. and Christensen, P.R. (2001) Monitoring urban land cover change: an expert system approach to land cover classification of semiarid to arid urban centers , Remote Sensing of Environment, 77, pp. 173—185 .
73.
Treitz, P.M. , Howarth, P.J. and Gong, P. (1992) Application of satellite and GIS technologies for land cover and land use mapping at the rural urban fringe: a case study , Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 58, pp. 439—448 .
74.
Tsai, Y.H. (2005) Quantifying urban form compactness vs sprawl , Urban Studies, 42, pp. 141—161 .
75.
Tucker, C.J. (2004) NASA's global orthorectified Landsat data set , Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 70, pp. 313—322 .
76.
UN (United Nations ) (2003) United Nations Population Division World Urbanization Prospects: The 2003 Revision . New York: United Nations .
77.
UN (2005) United Nations Statistical Yearbook (49th issue). New York: United Nations Publication .
78.
Webster, D.R. (2002) On the edge: shaping the future of peri-urban East Asia. Discussion Paper, The Urban Dynamics of East Asia Series, Asia Pacific Research Center Publication, Stanford University, California .
79.
Wolman, H. , Galster, G. , Hanson, R. et al. (2005) The fundamental challenge in measuring sprawl: which land should be considered? , The Professional Geographer , 57, pp. 94—105 .
80.
Wu, J. (2004) Effects of changing scale on landscape pattern analysis: scaling relations , Landscape Ecology, 19, pp. 125—138 .
81.
Yang, X. and Lo, C.P. (2002) Using a time series of satellite imagery to detect land use and land cover changes in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area , International Journal of Remote Sensing, 23, pp. 1775—1798 .
82.
Yeboah, I.E.A. (2003) Demographic and housing aspects of structural adjustment and emerging urban form in Accra , Ghana, Africa Today, 50, pp. 107—119 .
