A Study On The Characteristics And Mechanism Of Spatial Expansion Of Urban Fringe

Urban fringe is a transition zone different from the city core and the traditional rural area, which lies between the built-up areas and the surrounding countryside. Because of its sensitiveness to the economy, society and eco-environment, urban fringe has long been the focus of related studies. More attention should be paid to the characteristics of the spatial expansion and driven forces of the urban fringe, it’s of great practical significance to both the city core and the surrounding countryside. This paper takes Jiangning district as an example to explore the expansion process of urban fringe and its main drivers from2000to2010.This thesis is organized into four main parts. It begins with a review of the relevant literature. Then, the spatial data analysis is undertaken to evaluate the expansion process of urban fringe from several aspects. The last part aims to classify the various factors which have influenced the spatial pattern of expansion of the urban-fringe.The main conclusions are:(1) During the10years, the number of farmland was decreased, the other types of use land were increased, especially the land using for building, construction and transportation;(2) The entropy varied in size of each unit, while viewed from the standpoint of whole district, there exists some regularities of distribution;(3) In the first six years(2000-2006), Dongshan, Moling, and Qilin stood out from other streets in the intensity of extension; while in the second phase, Chunhua, Hushu, Lukou, Tangshan gained remarkable increase in extension;(4) Three expansion modes are included, that is, axial expansion mode, independent expansion mode and cluster mode;(5) The main drivers are policy, the development of economy, population concentration and industries etc., and the critical factors influencing the expansion of urban fringe are the growing population, changing economic structure and developing economy.