Many metropolitan areas around the world aim to control urban growth with a view to achieving efficiency and containing urban problems. Among many urban growth policy tools, the green belt (GB) policy is known as the most rigid and strongest. However, there has been no study on the consequences when GB restrictions are completely removed. The primary purpose of this study is to analyse the spatial effects of greenbelt removal on land development in Korea’s medium-sized cities between 2000 and 2017. To do so, we used the Landsat thematic mapper (TM) 5 satellite image (2000) and Landsat OLI TIRS 8 satellite image (2017) along with various attribute data to model the spatial effects of greenbelt removal in the cases of three medium-sized cities in Korea. The result of difference-in-difference (DID) analysis confirms that the effects of GB removal on land development vary depending on the local conditions of land development.

The primary purposes of this study are to identify the characteristics of land development in urban area through GIS and remote sensing techniques and to provide useful implications for urban spatial policy. To perform these tasks, Daegu metropolitan city and its vicinities were selected as a study area, and remote sensing data and attributed data were collected, organized and analyzed. This study focuses on the following three steps. First, it identifies the characteristics of land development in urban areas by utilizing multi-temporal satellite image data (Landsat TM, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000. Second, it tries to find an answer on a critical question concerning land use conversion, i.e., which land use leads expansion of urban area? Third, it derives implications for urban spatial policies based on these findings. The characteristics of the urban extents tell us that the main land use converted into urban use from non-urban uses is green areas. The public sector, central and local governments, leads the land use conversions of suburban lands as exclusive legal body to issue permission of land use change. Based on these findings, this study concludes that the more systematic and technically advanced management tools should be utilized for more effective spatial management for urban growth.