Multifractal features of spatial variation in construction land in Beijing (1985–2015)

Abstract

Over the last 30 years, Beijing has experienced rapid development. The city’s spatial pattern and changes are extremely complicated. Therefore, to reveal the spatial patterns at different scales and levels, the construction land in Beijing within the 6th ring road in 1985, 1999, 2008, and 2015, was analyzed using global and local multifractal analyses. The global analysis shows that, over the past 30 years, the development of new construction land in this region experienced a process that transformed it from being a hierarchical spatial structure with a low-evolution intensity (1985) to being a spatial structure with a higher evolution intensity and multi-scale differential development (1999, 2008) with a hierarchical spatial system (one main urban area with a number of satellite towns) (2015). Local analysis further shows that the spatial pattern of the construction land in this region tended to be simplified over the past 30 years. The construction land in this region displays specific evolutionary characteristics with the increase in breadth (q) and intensity (Dq) and a multifractal dimension spectrum (f(a) – a(q)) and dominant spectrum at various spatial scales over a four-year period. In general, the influence of high-density areas on the spatial pattern of the construction land is decreasing, while the influence of low-density areas is increasing. Based on this, this paper also summarizes the theoretical value of multifractal analysis in economic geography research, highlighting its advantages, limitations, and application range, and presents the technical analysis process and other suggestions for future research.