Planning an ecological network of Xiamen Island (China) using landscape metrics and network analysis

Most Chinese municipal governments and urban planners have attempted to conserve and create urban greenspace in response to rapid urbanization. It is a major task for urban landscape planners to construct an effective and harmonious urban ecological network and maintain a sustainable urban development environment. In this paper, the present situation and a recent greenway augment plan of Xiamen Island were assessed using a series of landscape metrics. The results showed that the recent greenway augment plan could improve the present greenway system considerably. The improvements were indicated by decrease in patch density, and increase in total class area and edge density on the patch level, landscape diversity, landscape evenness and landscape connectivity on the landscape level. On the basis of these analyses, a number of alternative planning scenarios were designed by using network analysis methods for improving the ecological network of Xiamen Island. An alternative planning scenario was proposed to decrease the degree of landscape fragmentation, increase the shape complexity of greenway patches and enhance the landscape connectivity. The results indicated that methods which integrate landscape metrics with network analyses could not only quantitatively assess the present situation and the rationality of planning for urban greenway systems, but also facilitate the design of planning scenarios for urban ecological networks, enabling them to meet the principles of conformity, harmony, circulation, safety, diversity and sustainability. The principles and methods of landscape ecology, and the greenway concepts that have originated in the West can be useful for Chinese landscape planning and can be applied to greenway development in China.