Incorporating Ecological Constraints into the Simulations of Tropical Urban Growth Boundaries: A Case Study of Sanya City on Hainan Island, China

The rapid expansion of cities in tropical regions has triggered a series problems such as the destruction rare natural resources and decreases environmental resource carrying capacity ecological security, which seriously threaten sustainable development cities. In this study, city Sanya, Hainan, China, is taken an example. A bottom-line security pattern constructed based on remote sensing index (RSEI) patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) for urban growth boundary (UGB) delineation. results show that Sanya good background, but overall quality decreased from 2014 to 2018 due construction hot spot areas. Under scenario, built-up area 2030 will be 73.81% greater than 2018, mainly occupying large amount agricultural space, not effectively suppressed. Delineation UGBs combined with constraints can protect regional control sprawl, relatively consistent current planning. study demonstrate RSEI-PLUS-based UGB delineation perspective high scientific applicability, they provide reference coordinated ecological–economic ecologically fragile