Navigating Urban Sustainability: Urban Planning and the Predictive Analysis of Busan's Green Area Dynamics Using the CA-ANN Model

While numerous studies have employed deep learning and high-resolution remote sensing to predict future land use and land cover (LULC) changes, no study has integrated these predictive tools with the current urban planning context to find a potential issues for sustainability. This study addresses this gap by examining the planning context of Busan Metropolitan City (BMC) and analyzing the paradoxical objectives within the city's 2040 Master Plan and the subordinate 2030 Busan Master Plan for Parks and Greenbelts. Although the plans advocate for increased green areas to enhance urban sustainability and social wellbeing, they simultaneously support policies that may lead to a reduction in these areas due to urban development. Using the CA-ANN model in the MOLUSCE plugin, a deep learning-based LULC change analysis, we forecast further urban expansion and continued shrinkage of natural green areas. During 1980-2010, Busan Metropolitan City (BMC) underwent high-speed urban expansion, wherein the urbanized areas almost doubled and agricultural lands and green areas, including forests and grassland, reduced considerably. Forecasts for the years 2010-2040 show continued further expansion of urban areas at the expense of areas for agriculture and green areas, including forest and grasslands. Given the master plans, these highlight a critical tension between urban growth and sustainability. Despite the push for more green spaces, the replacement of natural landscapes with artificial parks and green areas may threaten long-term sustainability. In view of these apparently conflicting goals, the urban planning framework for BMC would have to take up increasingly stronger conservation policies and adaptive planning practices that consider environmental preservation on a par with economic development in the light of the planning context and trajectory of urbanization.