Where Should the Start Zone Be Located for Xiong'an New Area? A Land Use Perspective

Abstract: China announced plans on April 1, 2017 to create Xiong'an New Area, a new economic zone about 110 km southwest of Beijing. The new area of national significance covers the three counties of Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin in Hebei Province, and is home to Baiyangdian, a major wetland in northern China. It will cover around 100 km2 initially (called “Starting Zone”) and will be expanded to 200 km2 in the mid-term and about 2000 km2 in the long term. In this context, it is important to assess the land use pattern for the new area's planning and development. Based on remote sensing interpretation of Landsat OLI images, we examine the current land use features, the potential for built-up land saving and intensive use, and the spatial variation of arable land quality. The results indicate that the arable lands, built-up lands and wetlands account for around 60%, 20% and 10%, respectively. The potential for rural built-up land saving and intensive use is quite large. The arable land quality and use int...