Physical and Socioeconomic Driving Forces of Land-Use and Land-Cover Changes: A Case Study of Wuhan City, China

To investigate precise nexus between land-use and land-cover changes (LUCC) and driving factors for rational urban management, we used remotely sensed images to map land use and land cover (LULC) from 1990 to 2010 for four time periods using Wuhan city, China, as a case study. Partial least squares (PLS) method was applied to analyze the relationships between LUCC and the driving factors, mainly focusing on three types of LULC, that is, arable land, built-up area, and water area. The results were as follows: (1) during the past two decades, the land-use pattern in Wuhan city showed dramatic change. Arable land is made up of the largest part of the total area. The increased built-up land came mainly from the conversion of arable land for the purpose of economic development. (2) Based on the Variable Importance in Projection (VIP), the joint effects of socioeconomic and physical factors on LUCC were dominant, though annual temperature, especially annual precipitation, proved to be less significant to LUCC. Population, tertiary industry proportion, and gross output value of agriculture were the most significant factors for three major types of LULC. This study could help us better understand the driving mechanism of urban LUCC and important implications for urban management.