Mapping the Functional Structure of Urban Agglomerations at the Block Level: A New Spatial Classification That Goes beyond Land Use

Bin Ai, Zhenlin Lai and Shifa Ma ()
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Bin Ai: School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China
Zhenlin Lai: School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China
Shifa Ma: School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510090, China

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-19

Abstract: The functional structure of territorial space is an important factor for analyzing the interaction between humans and nature. However, the classification of remote sensing images struggles to distinguish between multiple functions provided by the same land use type. Therefore, we propose a framework to combine multi-source data for the recognition of dominant functions at the block level. Taking the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) as a case study, its block-level ‘production–living–ecology’ functions were interpreted. The whole GBA was first divided into different blocks and its total, average, and proportional functional intensities were then calculated. Each block was labeled as a functional type considering the attributes of human activity and social information. The results show that the combination of land use/cover data, point of interest identification, and open street maps can efficiently separate the multiple and mixed functions of the same land use types. There is a great difference in the dominant functions of the cities in the GBA, and the spatial heterogeneity of their mixed functions is closely related to the development of their land resources and socio-economy. This provides a new perspective for recognizing the spatial structure of territorial space and can give important data for regulating and optimizing landscape patterns during sustainable development.

Keywords: production–living–ecological (PLE) function; land use/cover change (LUCC); points of interest (POI); open street map (OSM) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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