Monitoring urban transformation in the old city of Shanghai and its former foreign settlements from 1985 to 2014

In this paper, we monitored the urban morphology of the old city of Shanghai and its former foreign concessions from 1985 to 2014. Based on a time-series of Landsat 5, 7 and 8 images, this study used Iteratively Reweighted Multivariate Alteration Detection (IRMAD) analysis to detect land-use modifications from traditional urban pattern to new constructions. Results show that urban transformation mainly started in 1995 and perpetuate at an average rate of 88 ha per year. It also brings out that about 55% of the old urban pattern was modified in 2014. A detailed interpretation highlights the development of modern high-rise buildings, roads and subway networks, green infrastructures but also the conservation of protected historical buildings.