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Characterizing urban densification in the city of Wuhan using time-series building information

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Abstract

Context

Densification and outward expansion are two manifestations of urban land-change process. However, the spatiotemporal evolution of urban densification is poorly documented and necessitates in-depth understanding.

Objectives

This study, using building information spanning 2000–2018 on Wuhan, is focused on: (1) the spatiotemporal evolution of urban densification, and (2) the relationship between human activities and urban morphology.

Methods

The 3D spatial metrics were calculated to characterize urban landscape patterns, and these metrics were further integrated to recognize urban morphological zones through multivariate clustering. Urban densification forms were identified using a proximity expansion index. The correlation between human activities and urban morphology was measured by Moran’s I.

Results

Building height, density, and volume increased substantially over time. The urban core area had large building density and volume with medium building height. Five urban morphological zones were identified: type I (i.e., the highest density with medium height) was enlarged considerably around the city center; type III (i.e., maximum height with high density) signified the most developed built-up areas and was increasingly found across the city. Leap-frog development was the dominant urban densification form during 2000–2006, while infill and edge-expansion forms were prevalent during 2012–2018. An overall positive spatial correlation was found between human activities and building density/volume.

Conclusions

We show that urban densification is an important aspect of urban land-change process, and propose a methodology framework to investigate urban densification. We also pave the way for environmental impact and sustainability assessment of urban densification.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (grant 2022CFB039), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 41925007, 41771360, 41975044, 41801021, and 42101385), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant CCNU22XJ017), and the International Partnership Program of CAS (grant 132C35KYSB20200007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Regional Ecology and Environmental Change, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Qian Cao, He Huang & Lunche Wang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Qian Cao, He Huang & Lunche Wang

  3. Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, 80301, USA

    Wei Wang

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  1. Qian Cao
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  4. Lunche Wang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the conception and design of this work. QC: methodology, data collection, original draft writing, review, and editing. HH: methodology, data analysis, and visualization. WW: review and editing. LW: resources, supervision, and funding acquisition. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lunche Wang.

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Cao, Q., Huang, H., Wang, W. et al. Characterizing urban densification in the city of Wuhan using time-series building information. Landsc Ecol 38, 3307–3327 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-023-01718-7

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