Spatiotemporal evolution law and driving force of mining city patterns.

Urban transformation is an inevitable trend for mining cities to achieve sustainable development. Analyzing the spatiotemporal evolution laws and driving mechanisms of mining cities is necessary for providing a scientific basis for their transformation. In this study, Jixi was taken as an example, which is a typical mining city in China. Based on geographic information system, various mathematical statistical analysis methods were used to quantitatively analyze the evolution pattern of mining cities. In addition, the driving mechanisms of land expansion in mining cities were examined further. The results showed that (1) the urban land in the mining city is mainly distributed in low-lying areas, and land expansion mainly occurred in flat areas. (2) Based on the distribution of mineral resources, the land use pattern of mining cities was scattered; with steady economic development, the urban spatial pattern tends to be compact. (3) The spatial pattern of mining cities is affected by natural, economic, and policy factors. The results reveal the spatiotemporal evolution law and driving mechanism of the patterns in mining cities, thereby providing a scientific basis for the sustainable development planning and land management of mining cities.