ASSESSING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF URBANIZATION USING MULTI-SENSOR DATA: SHANGHAI, 1970–2000

Abstract

Environmental impacts of metropolitan Shanghai's growth, sporadic during the 1960s-1980s and rapidly accelerating in the 1990s, is clearly revealed by integrating remotely sensed images with data sets in a geographical information system. This examination first considers the methodology of using multi-sensor data to assess land use and land cover changes. Images utilized vary by scale and resolution, number of spectral bands, and classification schemes. Patterns of land use over this time period is then examined in relation to shifts in the political economy and the resulting changes in the density of population settlement and occupations in urban and rural areas. The conclusion reiterates the usefulness of remotely sensed data in a geographic information system for policy formulation designed to improve the environment of this giant metropolis in the vanguard of China's development.

Keywords:

• land use change
• Shanghai
• environmental impact