There is a widespread concern about urban sprawl. It has negative impacts on natural resources, economic
health,
and community character. Without a universal definition of urban sprawl, its quantification and
modeling
is difficult. Traditionally, urban sprawl was described using qualitative terms, and landscape
patterns.
Quantitative methods are required to help local, regional and state land use planners to better
identify,
understand and address it. In this study, an integrated approach of remote sensing and GIS
was
used to identify three urban growth types of infilling growth, outlying growth and edge-expansion
growth
at the city of Guangzhou, China. Spatial metrics were used to characterize long-term trends and
patterns
of urban growth. Result shows that the proposed method can identify and visualize different
urban
growth types. Infilling growth is the dominant expansion type. Edge-expansion is concentrated at
suburban
areas. Outlying growth mainly occurs relatively far from the urban core. The analysis shows
that
initially the urban area expands mainly as outlying growth, causing increased fragmentation and
dispersion
of urban areas. Next, growth filled in vacant non-urban area inwards, resulting into a more
compact
and aggregated urban pattern. The study shows an improved understanding of urban growth,
and
helps to provide an effective way for urban planning.