Integrated Urban Land-Use Zoning and Associated Spatial Development: Case Study in Shenzhen, China

Abstract

As an effective approach to sustainable urban planning, integrated urban land-use zoning can contribute to fully understanding the integrated characteristics of urban land-use system, indicating the trend and possibility of land-use transformation, and thus mapping the spatial direction of urban development. However, compared with various case studies on land-use intensity, few land-use zoning is conducted with a special concern on land-use transformation. This paper used Shenzhen City in China as a case study to establish a systematic indicators model for integrated urban land-use zoning with a focus on both current intensity and structure of land-use system and transformation potential derived from socioeconomic system, and then to direct associated spatial development of urban growth in the future. The results show the following: (1) compared with traditional land-use degree index, the revised one through impervious surface area is more suitable in highly-urbanized area for its effectiveness in characterizing small differences among various assessing units; (2) according to current status and transformation potential of urban land-use system, four land-use zones are clustered with the application of self-organizing feature map method and aggregation index, i.e., transfer development zone, moderate development zone, prior development zone, and restrict development zone; and (3) five spatial axes of urban development associated with the zoning scheme are in high accordance with urban comprehensive plan of Shenzhen City. Therefore, the proposed integrated land-use zoning model is effective to characterize current land-use system, and its transformation potential exerted by socioeconomic system, and thus to make certain the primary landscape functions of various land-use zones and provide practical guidance for urban planning.