The Spatiotemporal Pattern and Driving Mechanism of Urban Sprawl in China’s Counties

Cities in China do not constitute a few global metropolises, but are characterized by heterogeneity. Studying counties can give us comprehensive picture of urban sprawl China. This study measured the index 1880 from 2005 to 2020 for first time and then revealed evolution their spatiotemporal characteristics driving mechanisms. The results following. (1) China’s had noticeable sprawling trend 2020, evolutionary process was (2) From counties’ gradually evolved into spatial distribution pattern high east low west. county municipal districts an interlocking distribution. (3) High–high cluster areas CSI mainly distributed plains, hilly, basin, plateau tend be low–low areas. High–low outliers were “point–line” along railroad lines near intersections central cities. Low–high encircling high–high (4) coefficient natural drivers higher tended decrease, while economic lower increased. is refine scale, which provides reference decision making optimize structure thus promote high-quality development.