Assessing construction land potential and its spatial pattern in China

The assessment of construction land potential is a key foundation in the processes of future urbanization, development, and industrialization. Given its background of land resources scarcity, there is a critical need to precisely evaluate land resources in China, especially its construction land potential. This paper determines the thresholds of factors based on references in different fields, defines the arithmetic formulae according to the logical relations of the factors, extracts data from the maps, and calculates the results. This assessment uses GIS spatial analysis techniques, Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), TM remote sensing land use map, administrative maps at the county level, and land use investigation data to derive the spatial pattern of construction land potential of China for 2008. The results show that: (1) construction land potential in China amounts to 283,400km², which accounts for 2.99% of total land area and 0.021ha/person; and (2) the spatial distribution of supply and demand of construction land potential currently is unbalanced, with areas such as Central China, East China, and metropolitan regions having low potential but high demand, while areas such as the northern part of China having high potential but low demand. It is suggested here that construction land potential could be seen as a key integrative indicator of the land carrying capacity of various regions for future population aggregation, industrialization and urbanization development. The assessment of construction land potential would be significant to diagnosing land resources and making sound development strategies in order to achieve regional sustainable development.