Spatio-temporal dynamic analysis of an island city landscape: a case study of Xiamen Island, China.

The spatio-temporal dynamic landscape pattern of Xiamen throughout its rapid urbanisation from 1987 to 2007 was studied using analyses of landscape indices and fractal methods (box counting method, BCM). Based on remote sensing (RS) and a geographic information system (GIS), five Landsat TM5 images were used to construct a land-use database for the studied area. BCM was programmed in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 and MapObject. Over the last 20 years, rapid urbanisation of Xiamen Island has induced enormous conversions of the landscape pattern. Anthropogenic disturbance after 1992 has led to a man-made landscape gradually replacing the farmland and forestland landscape and the former became the dominant landscape type in 2007, leading to a decrease in diversity and heterogeneity in Xiamen Island. The urban land area increased rapidly from 39.2 to 94.4 km2 over these 20 years. The urban expansion mainly occupied forestland, farmland, water and sea. Farmland area had disappeared completely by 2007. Besides urban expansion, the Grain to Green Programme was also an important reason for farmland decrease. The size and spatial distribution of coastal reclamation was closely related to policies implemented in various phases. The island's coastline has become simplified and smoothed, with fractal dimensions decreasing from 1.157 to 1.124, and the shape approaching a circle. The new policy of transforming Xiamen from an island city to a bay city has had important effects on coastal reclamation, with reclamation of 7.89 km2 between 2002 and 2007, more than the total area reclaimed during the previous 15 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]