Spatio-temperal characteristics of urbanization land expansion in Chongqing urban area

Based on land use and urban plan maps, we extraced urban land information of Chongqing urban area in periods of 1995,2000.2008. With the help of GIS softwares and statistical analysis model, such indexes as expansion speed, expansion intensity, expansion direction, expansion morphological, and landscape features were used. This paper analyzed the spatio-temporal characteristics of urban land expansion. The results are drawn as follows: (1) Since 1995, the expansion speed and expansion intensity of urban land accelerate obviously, but urban land expansion show significant disparities and spatial heterogeneity. (2) By topography and policy factors, Chongqing urban land expansion showed the northeast - southwest axial pattern. (3) Compact ratio of urban land is low, space form is irregular, and the heterogeneity is apparent. (4) During the urban land expansion, the trend of function centralization of land use become stronger.