Satellite-based Evaluation of Urban Spatiotemporal Changes Based on Impervious Surface Data: An Implementation in Tokyo Metropolitan Area (TMA)

The ever-changing urbanization has brought about a noticeable fluctuation of terrestrial surfaces coverages, in which natural lands have increasingly converted into the anthropogenic land covers. Because of its great significance, impervious surfaces areas (ISA) inevitably serve as a critical parameter for contributing to the monitoring and evaluation of urban dynamics. Taking Tokyo Metropolitan Area (TMA), one of the earliest and populous metropolises in the world, as a case study, this study attempted to characterize and evaluate the spatiotemporal patterns and dynamic changes of the urban expansion in TMA based on time series Landsat IS data, and then investigate the spatial determinants behind those changes. The IS based evaluation results showed high consistency with the actual urban development in TMA. Overall, the amount of ISA has been keeping an upward trend since 1987. However recently, the ISA or urban growth were regulated because of the sustainable urban development policies. The new urban ISA have been mainly induced by the reconstruction and redevelopment of the old ISA, and the newly emerging ISA have primarily distributed in the urban frontiers and coastal area. It is noteworthy that the forces driving the growth of urban are not static and fixed but are dynamic and evolving.