The analysis on land use change in urban fringe area based on the GIS technology

The paper attempted to identify the dynamics of the land use changes by using transition matrices through GIS spatial analysis tools. It used land use maps at three periods of 1982, 2000 and 2006 in urban fringe area ( Daxing district) of south Beijing in China. At first, because of different classification level of land use at three periods, the unified classification system should be built up by referenced on the local governmental policies of land use. The land use types were divided in six categories: cultivated land (Cul), orchard (Ore), forest (For), Built-up land(Bul), riparian zones ( Rip) and unused land (UnL). Then, it calculated the process of land use changes by using transition matrices. The results indicated that over the past 20 years, land use in Daxing underwent considerable changes, the total areas that underwent changes during the periods 1982-2000 and 2000-2006 are 55,231 ha and 27,276 ha, which come down to 53.95% and 26.64% of the total area, respectively. There had been significant land use changes about within and non-within agricultural land in 1982-2000 than in 2000-2006, which were characterized by urbanizations and expansion of orchard land and forest land, and declination of cultivated land, riparian zones and unused land.