%0 Journal Article %A Luguang JIANG %A Peiyi LV %A Zhiming FENG %A Ye LIU %T Land use patterns of the Xiongan New Area and comparison among potential choices of start zone %D 2017 %R 10.18402/resci.2017.06.01 %J Resources Science %P 991-998 %V 39 %N 6 %X

China announced plans on 1 April 2017 to create the Xiongan New Area,a new economic zone about 110km southwest of Beijing. The new area covers the counties of Xiongxian,Rongcheng and Anxin in Hebei province,and is home to Baiyangdian,a major wetland in northern China. This is a new area of national significance. It will cover around 100km2 initially (termed as the start zone)and will be expanded to 200km2 in the mid-term and 2000km2 in the long term. It is important to reveal and analyze the land use pattern for planning and development. Based on remote sensing interpretation from Landsat OLI images,current land use features,potential of built-up land saving and intensive use,and spatial variation of arable land quality were analyzed. Three potential choices for the start zone are listed and compared. The results indicate that the proportion of arable land,built-up land and wetland are around 60%,20% and 10% respectively. The potential for rural built-up land savings and intensive use is large. The arable land quality and use intensity in Rongcheng and Anxin counties are much better than that of Xiongxian. Among three potential choices, the medium plot is the best suitable start zone. Policy recommendations on built-up land expansion,farmland saving and flood risk mitigation for the Xiongan New Area are discussed.

%U https://www.resci.cn/EN/10.18402/resci.2017.06.01