A GIS and Remote Sensing-based Analysis of Land Use Change Using the Asymmetric Relation Analysis Method: A Case Study from the City of Hangzhou, China

Urbanization has been an important component of land use and land cover change. Quantifying land use patterns and their changes is essential for monitoring and assessing the impact of urbanization. Data on existing and changing land use provide crucial clues for future development. Combining the application of remote sensing with geographic information systems (GIS) data, this study accomplishes (i) the creation of time-series land use maps in the core urban area of the city of Hangzhou, China; (ii) the examination of the land use cross-tabulation matrix to assess the transitions between land use types; and (iii) the introduction of a new asymmetric relation analysis method to explore the dependency relationship of different times in land use. The investigation was based on a 12-year time series dataset (1990-2002), compiled from fine-resolution satellite imagery and GIS-based maps. The results of the study showed that, first, there are strong associations between different stages (1990, 1996, and 2002) in land use development, and, secondly, the dependency between land use states was asymmetric in both stages of development. In addition, urbanization in Hangzhou has resulted in notable increases in the surface area of urban land and sharp decreases in the surface area of cropland.