Change of impervious surface area and its impacts on urban landscape: an example of Shenyang between 2010 and 2017

Introduction: One of the most striking features of urbanization is the replacement of the original natural land cover type by artificial impervious surface area (ISA). However, the extent of the contribution of various environmental factors, especially the growth of 3D space to ISA expansion, and the scope and mechanism of their influences in dramatically expanding cities, are yet to be determined. The boosted regression tree (BRT) model was adopted to analyze the main influencing factors and driving mechanisms of ISA change in Shenyang, China between 2010 and 2017. Outcomes: The nearly complete-coverage ISA (>= 0.7) increased from 42% in 2010 to 47% in 2017. The percentage of landscape with a high ISA fraction increased, while the landscape evenness and diversity of ISA decreased. The BRT analysis revealed that elevation, regional population density, and landscape class had the largest influences on the change of urban ISA, contributing 22.55%, 18.16%, and 11.18% to the model, respectively. Conclusion: Overall, topographic and socioeconomic factors had the greatest influence on urban ISA change in Shenyang, followed by land use type and building pattern indices. The trend of high aggregation was strong in large commercial and residential areas. The 3D expansion of the city had an influence on its areal expansion.