Evolution of production-living-ecological space in peri-urban area: A case study in Machong Town, Dongguan City

Abstract

Machong Town is a typical peri-urban area located on the edge of a large city. Based on the survey of the economic, social, spatial development and the land use data translated from satellite images over the years analyzed by means of land use transfer matrix and landscape pattern index, this paper explores the morphological characteristics and evolution mechanism of production-living-ecological space in Machong Town. The study found that the evolution of production-living-ecological space in Machong Town is an industry-led process. The advantages of port logistics have attracted large-scale port-dependent industries such as grain and oil, and papermaking to garther in Machong Town, which led to the rapid expansion of the production space. In the process of production space expansion, living space has played a supporting role of completing the transformation from traditional rural areas to high-density and rental-type rural areas. Meanwhile, the ecological space is gradually eating away. It is the path that relies on the development of large port and large industries, making Machong Town present a mixed urban-rural spatial pattern unique to peri-urban areas and have characteristics different from other peri-urban areas formed with the development of township enterprises.