Research on the impact of expressway on its peripheral land use in Hunan Province, China

Abstract The purpose of this research is to study the scope and magnitude of the impact of expressways and their entrances and exits, as well as the effects of environmental and socio-economic factors on those impacts. Based on multi-period remote-sensing images and land use/land cover change data, the expressway lines and entrances and exits in Hunan Province, China, in 2015 are selected as the research objects. The Urbanization Impact Index (U) and the Impact Strength Index (E) are used to characterize the impact of the expressway on peripheral land use. Geographic information system spatial analysis and correlation analysis methods are also used in this research. The results show that (1) the scope of the expressway impact is 8.4 km and that of the entrances and exits is 8.8 km, of which the impact is considered strong within 0.2 and 3.2 km, respectively; (2) environmental and socio-economic conditions have no obvious effect on the impact scope of the expressways but have a weak effect on the impact scope of the entrances and exits; and (3) regions with more complex terrain and a lower level of socio-economic development have the larger impact scope as well as a stronger impact.