CollectHomepage AdvertisementContact usMessage

Arid Land Geography ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (1): 263-276.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000–6060.2021.099

• Regional Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Suitable spatial patterns for settlements in hilly-gully region of the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi: A case of Donggou, Mizhi County

TIAN Darui1(),TANG Hao2,TAN Jingbin3()   

  1. 1. School of Architecture, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, State Key Laboratory of Green Building in Western China, Xi’an 710055, Shaanxi, China
    2. LAY-OUT Planning Consultants Company Limited, Shenzhen 518049, Guangdong, China
    3. School of Architecture, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710061, Shaanxi, China
  • Received:2021-02-19 Revised:2021-07-15 Online:2022-01-25 Published:2022-01-21
  • Contact: Jingbin TAN E-mail:tatary-tdr@163.com;tanjingbin84@163.com

Abstract:

The hilly-gully region of the Loess Plateau is a great challenge in the practice of new urbanization in western China. Without clarifying its regional characteristics, the intervention of modern urban planning and design has impacted the local environment and the native culture considerably. With the destruction caused by human settlements to the natural environment and the impact of modern towns on traditional settlements in the Loess Plateau of northern Shaanxi, an urgent task is to make rational use of the land in hilly-gully regions and explore the construction mode of settlements on the basis of the wisdom and experience of local people from the perspective of urban-rural integration and harmony between human beings and nature. Three-dimensional spatial characteristics in the long-term evolution of human settlements in hilly-gully regions are becoming increasingly obvious. To improve the utilization efficiency of hilly-gully land in urban construction, three-dimensional fractal analysis for organic growth of settlements has become one of the important contents of urban morphological study. With Donggou, Mizhi County, in northern Shaanxi taken as an example, this article revealed the topographical changes in Donggou and the spatial features of its settlement distribution by using the mesh method on the basis of satellite remote sensing images and digital elevation model altitude data. This work also analyzed and evaluated the coordination relationship between Donggou’s topographical complexity and settlement density through four-quadrant classification, and then measured and compared the spatial efficiency of various settlement patterns by using 3D grid fractal dimension models. This work proposes that settlement samples with high grid fractal dimensions and fit into the landscape are important references in dealing with the urban spatial development problems in the hilly-gully region of the Loess Plateau. The results are as follows: (1) The settlements in Donggou exhibit obvious spatial variation from the outside to the inside; the building density and the floor area ratio first decrease then increase and decrease again as the settlements move farther away from riverbanks. (2) Overlay analysis of Donggou’s topographical complexity and settlement agglomeration degree shows that the concentrated settlements on smooth terrain and the scattered settlements on complex terrain reflect a harmonious man-land relationship, and these two settlement types account for about 70.5% of the total land area of all settlements. (3) The 3D grid fractal dimension value of the settlements in Donggou is obviously segmented, while terrace parallel and free parallel settlements have the highest 3D fractal dimension value of 2.35-2.55. (4) Among the five typical spatial patterns of settlements, three efficient and appropriate patterns, terrace parallel, free parallel, and block mass types, are characterized by a harmonious man-land relationship and efficient space utilization, and can thus be used as a reference in creating settlement spaces in hilly-gully regions.

Key words: hilly-gully regions of the Loess Plateau, spatial patterns for settlements, harmonious man-land relationship, 3D grid fractal dimension, Mizhi County