Sensors 2011, 11, 1794-1809; doi:10.3390/s110201794 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors Article Land Use Dynamics of the Fast-Growing Shanghai Metropolis, China (1979–2008) and its Implications for Land Use and Urban Planning Policy Hao Zhang, Li-Guo Zhou, Ming-Nan Chen and Wei-Chun Ma * Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, 220 Handan road, Shanghai 200433, China; E-Mails:
[email protected] (H.Z.);
[email protected] (L.G.Z.);
[email protected] (M.N.C.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +86-21-5632. Received: 17 December 2010; in revised form: 17 January 2011 / Accepted: 19 January 2011 / Published: 31 January 2011 Abstract: Through the integrated approach of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques, four Landsat TM/ETM+ imagery acquired during 1979 and 2008 were used to quantitatively characterize the patterns of land use and land cover change (LULC) and urban sprawl in the fast-growing Shanghai Metropolis, China. Results showed that, the urban/built-up area grew on average by 4,242.06 ha yr−1. Bare land grew by 1,594.66 ha yr−1 on average. In contrast, cropland decreased by 3,286.26 ha yr−1 on average, followed by forest and shrub, water, and tidal land, which decreased by 1,331.33 ha yr−1, 903.43 ha yr−1, and 315.72 ha yr−1 on average, respectively. As a result, during 1979 and 2008 approximately 83.83% of the newly urban/built-up land was converted from cropland (67.35%), forest and shrub (9.12%), water (4.80%), and tidal land (2.19%).