Land-Use Evolution and Driving Forces in Urban Fringe Archaeological Sites: A Case Study of the Western Han Imperial Mausoleums

Huihui Liu, Boxiang Zhao, Junmin Liu and Yingning Shen ()
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Huihui Liu: School of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Boxiang Zhao: Xi’an City Planning Design & Research Institute, Xi’an 710082, China
Junmin Liu: School of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Yingning Shen: School of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-24

Abstract: Archaeological sites located on the edge of growing cities often struggle to reconcile heritage protection with rapid development. To understand this tension, we examined a 50.83 km 2 zone around the Western Han Imperial Mausoleums in the Qin-Han New District. Using Landsat images from 1992, 2002, 2012, and 2022, this study applied supervised classification, land-use transfer matrices, and dynamic-degree analysis to trace three decades of land-use change. From 1992 to 2022, built-up land expanded by 29.85 percentage points, largely replacing farmland, which shrank by 35.64 percentage points and became fragmented. Forest cover gained a modest 5.78 percentage points and migrated eastward toward the mausoleums. Overall, urban growth followed a “spread–integrate–connect” pattern along major roads. This study interprets these trends through five interrelated drivers, including policy, planning, economy, population, and heritage protection, and proposes an integrated management model. The model links archaeological pre-assessment with land-use compatibility zoning and active community participation. Together, these measures offer a practical roadmap for balancing conservation and sustainable land management at imperial burial complexes and similar urban fringe heritage sites.

Keywords: land-use evolution; archaeological sites conservation; urban fringe areas; multi-dimensional driving mechanisms; compound management model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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