Spatial-temporal Dynamics and Driving Forces of Land Development Intensity in the Western China from 2000 to 2015

The change in land development intensity is an important perspective to reflect the variation in regional social and economic development and spatial differentiation. In this paper, spatial statistical analysis, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), and Geographically weighted regression (GWR) methods are used to systematically analyse the spatial-temporal characteristics and driving forces of land development intensity for 131 spatial units in the western China from 2000 to 2015. The findings of the study are as follows: 1) The land development intensity in the western China has been increasing rapidly. From 2000 to 2015, land development intensity increased by 3.4 times on average. 2) The hotspot areas have shifted from central Inner Mongolia, northern Shaanxi and the Beibu Gulf of Guangxi to the Guanzhong Plain and the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration. The areas of cold spots were mainly concentrated in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Yunnan, and Xinjiang. 3) Investment intensity and the natural environment have always been the main drivers of land development intensity in the western China. Investment played a powerful role in promoting land development intensity, while the natural and ecological environment distinctly constrained such development. The effect of the economic factors on land development intensity in the western China has changed, which is reflected in the driving factor of construction land development shifting from economic growth in 2000 to economic structure, especially industrial structure, in 2015.