Relationship between Morphological Characteristics and Land-Use Intensity: Empirical Analysis of Shanghai Development Zones

Abstract

In recent years, macro- and mesoresearches on urban morphology have started, but microscopic morphology of development zones is still a neglected area. In this paper, the GIS spatial analysis method is used to undertake empirical research to reveal the relationship between the morphological characteristics of development zones, land-use intensity, and industrial concentration. The aim is to provide a reference for development zone planning, construction, operation, and management. Results of this study reveal the following: (1) spatial distribution of industrial land in Shanghai is obviously clustered around the Big Hongqiao region; (2) although only one-third of development zones are above the average level of the whole city in land-use intensity, the disparity among development zones is still marked, especially between national-level and municipal-level development zones; (3) compactness and radial index have a strong positive correlation with the land development ratio, but local integration has a negative correlation with the index of land use intensity; (4) an incongruous trend exists between industrial concentration and the compact construction of development zones; and (5) transport accessibility is not a major factor impacting the industrial concentration of development zones in Shanghai, but a high degree of leading industrial concentration appears in those development zones with clear functional positioning.