Abstract:

n order to find the trait of Jingzhou County and optimize it, the author applies the GIS technology to investigate the spatiotemporal patterns of rural settlement in Jingzhou County of Hu'nan province. First, the vector data layers of rural settlements were extracted from the land use data in 1990 and 2005, respectively, These data layers were used in GIS software to calculate such landscape metrics, which quantified the spatial distributions of rural settlement plaques in 1990 and 2005, respectively, The 2 data layers were also overlaid with road networks and river systems to visually examine the impact of the linear features on the spatial patterns of the rural settlements. The findings suggest that the size and the number of the rural residential points have decreased during the 15-year period. Moreover, the spatial distribution patterns of the villages in the study area were largely affected by roads and rivers. The conclusion was that the rural settlement of Jingzhou Country should be adjusted from three aspects (overall planning, making policy and moving gradually), and its spatiotemporal patterns must be more rational.