| Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, China has undergone theurbanization process that posed unprecedented challenges to environmental protection,resource saving as well as sustainable development. Therefore, during thetransformation period of coordinating urban development and environmental protection,changing the way of development has become one of the hot issues.Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) which limits the urban sprawl has been worldwideimplemented by planning organizations in developed countries. The current planningprocess in China has also emphasized the importance of smart growth. Thus, it hasbecome a great challenge for sustainable development to establish a scientific UGB onthe basis of the specific characteristics of a city. Suzhou, located in the central part ofthe Yangtze River Delta, is one of the core urban functional regions in east China. After30years of reform and opening-up process, the economic development and urbangrowth are highlighted and changed rapidly in this city. The next decade should be acritical period for Suzhou to change its pattern of development.This paper proposed UGBs by applying integrated approach including bothqualitative and quantitative methods. First, with the help of remote sensing and GIStechnology, land use information of different periods has been analyzed. This paper alsoanalyzed the dynamics of urban growth, such as economy, population, infrastructure,urban planning and so on. Then, the paper proposed a comprehensive method to set theurban growth boundaries by evaluating the development potential considering landsuitability, population distribution, economic development, infrastructure and otherfactors. In order to simulate the urban growth boundaries, Principal ComponentAnalysis and Cluster Analysis have been used in the study. Finally, this paper posed apreliminary conceptual plan based on the idea of smart growth. The case study ofSuzhou provides a logical and replicable way to select the proper model of urbandevelopment. Then established the research frame of how UGB can be involved inChina. |
