Understanding Urban Growth in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region over the Past 100 Years Using Old Maps and Landsat Data

Abstract

Studying urban expansion from a longer-term perspective is of great significance to obtain an in-depth understanding of the process of urbanization. Remote sensing data are mostly selected to investigate the long-term expansion of cities. In this study, we selected the world-class urban agglomeration of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) as the study area, and then discussed how to make full use of multi-source, multi-category, and multi-temporal spatial data (old maps and remote sensing images) to study long-term urbanization. Through this study, we addressed three questions: (1) How much has the urban area in BTH expanded in the past 100 years? (2) How did the urban area expand in the past century? (3) What factors or important historical events have changed the development of cities with different functions? By comprehensively using urban spatial data, such as old maps and remote sensing images, geo-referencing them, and extracting built-up area information, a long-term series of urban built-up areas in the BTH region can be obtained. Results show the following: (1) There was clear evidence of dramatic urban expansion in this area, and the total built-up area had increased by 55.585 times, from 126.181 km2 to 7013.832 km2. (2) Continuous outward expansion has always been the main trend, while the compactness of the built-up land within the city is constantly decreasing and the complexity of the city boundary is increasing. (3) Cities in BTH were mostly formed through the construction of city walls during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the expansion process was mostly highly related to important political events, traffic development, and other factors. In summary, the BTH area, similarly to China and most regions of the world, has experienced rapid urbanization and the history of such ancient cities should be further preserved with the combined use of old maps.

Spatiotemporally Explicit Mapping of Built Environment Stocks Reveals Two Centuries of Urban Development in a Fairytale City, Odense, Denmark

“…Moreover, ongoing historical map compilation, ,− especially for cities in the global south, − provides the opportunity for long-term, large-scale (e.g., regional or national) analysis for past building age cohorts before the advent of remote sensing or other modern data sets. For example, a project has completed a set of geo-referenced old topographic maps covering 21 provinces in China over the past 100 years .…”

“…Moreover, ongoing historical map compilation, ,− especially for cities in the global south, − provides the opportunity for long-term, large-scale (e.g., regional or national) analysis for past building age cohorts before the advent of remote sensing or other modern data sets. For example, a project has completed a set of geo-referenced old topographic maps covering 21 provinces in China over the past 100 years . In addition to the booming geospatial data sets, detailed selected attributes (e.g., built year, area, and number of floors) retrieved from housing databases, real-estate agencies, or even ground fields can enable holistic characterization of the built environment. ,,, These data sets are generally available for most countries and can potentially cover a significant period of more than 100 years.…”

“…For example, a project has completed a set of geo-referenced old topographic maps covering 21 provinces in China over the past 100 years. 71 In addition to the booming geospatial data sets, detailed selected attributes (e.g., built year, area, and number of floors) retrieved from housing databases, real-estate agencies, or even ground fields can enable holistic characterization of the built environment. 11,21,23,73 These data sets are generally available for most countries and can potentially cover a significant period of more than 100 years.…”

Spatial utilization of historical topographic map and its application in land reconstruction of ancient Chinese urban land use

“…The development pattern of cities in historical periods is of great help in helping us understand the process of urban development in modern society 1 . The pattern of modern urban development has a certain historical inheritance, and behind its development mechanism lies a certain development mechanism 2 , 3 . Understanding the spatial distribution pattern and characteristics of historical cities over a long period of time is of great significance for us to delve deeper into the process of modern urbanization 4 , 5 .…”

“…2 . The top 5 with the largest area are: Jing-Jin-Ji (208.691 km2), Su-Hu (134.218 km 2 ), Henan (120.309 km 2 ), Zhejiang (108.008 km 2 ) and Shandong (106.436 km 2 ); the top 5 with the smallest area are: Qinghai (1.713 km 2 ), Hainan (2.754 km 2 ), Heilongjiang (15.051 km 2 ), Jilin (15.722 km 2 ) and Guizhou (16.179 km 2 ).…”