Spatiotemporal Evolution Characteristics and Influence Factor Analysis of the Production–Living–Ecological Space in Laiwu, China, from 2001 to 2018

Abstract

Optimizing production–living–ecological space (PLES) can benefit territorial space planning and sustainable development in China. Thus, spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and influence factor analyses are vital. Laiwu, China, was selected as the study area due to its complex terrain and development history. A multitemporal land-use and land-cover classification extracted from Landsat remote-sensing images for 2001–2018 and the self-organizing map method were combined to identify the area’s multitemporal PLES. The PLES evolution trajectories were extracted based on the multitemporal PLES. The main factors influencing the PLES spatiotemporal evolution differences were revealed using the random-forest-based factor importance evaluation method. The results showed that changes in the PLES trajectories occupied ∼ 18% of the study area. The ecological space recovery type was mainly observed in previously stable ecological space areas. Changes in the production space expansion (PSE) and living space expansion were mainly agglomerated in the fringe areas of previously stable production–ecological and living space lands. Distance from early built-up areas was the main factor influencing PLES expansion. Ecological space was mainly distributed far away from built-up areas, and living and production spaces were mainly distributed near the built-up areas. Additionally, the slope of the terrain affected the spatial distribution of PLES expansion to a certain extent, and the gross domestic product clearly affected the distribution of PSE.