Spatial–Temporal Variations of Green Space in Metropolitan Area: The Case of Wuhan, China

Abstract

Rapid urbanization has caused many environmental impacts associated with the reduction of green space. Having realized the importance of green space in urban ecosystems, local governments in China have set out a series of green space control planning. However, the relationship between the evolution of green space and control planning is not well studied in existing literature. This paper combines the analysis of remote sensing image interpretation to characterize the changing patterns of green space in Wuhan, China from 1995 to 2015. Results revealed that green space control planning accounted for the process of green space change, but failed to achieve its management and control objectives, the urban growth boundary (UGB) has broken. Although forests have efficiently recovered in some places, a significant amount of farmland and grassland have been invaded and damaged by urban expansion in the suburbs of the city. This situation has not been efficiently improved after the introduction of the control planning. We then further discuss the underlying causes of unproductive control planning by considering the stage of development in Midwest China. The analysis indicates that ignorance for the demands of regional development, disorganization among the governments and failure of suburban planning are the key factors contributing to inefficient planning.