Analysis of Shanghai Urban Expansion Based on Multi-temporal Remote Sensing Images

Being different from the traditional analysis of urban expansion in Shanghai from the perspective of humanities or urban geography, this study applies the Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) spatial information technologies to analyze the spatio-temporal characteristics and evolution of urban land expansion in Shanghai's urbanization process. It provides a basis for further research on the mechanism of urbanization process. In this study, we processed and analyzed the multi-temporal remote sensing images (Landsat series) in Shanghai from 1995 to 2016. A multidimensional feature space was constructed. Then the image classification was carried out by the support vector machine (SVM). On the basis of classification results, the central city zone was extracted by method of regional connectivity. After analyzing the change of area, center of gravity, location and spatial distribution of the central city zone, the spatial layout and trend of urban expansion are obtained. Finally, the driving force of urban expansion in Shanghai is analyzed. The analysis results accurately reflect the process of Shanghai's urban expansion.