Keywords: urban spatial structure, GIS, remote sensing

Abstract
The applications of remote sensing and GIS in urban studies at present in China give more weight on the acquisition of urban land use information and the comparison on the urban sprawl spanning most recent several decades^{[2]-[ 7]} , giving an image that remote sensing and GIS applications are located in the dynamic monitoring of urban growth only, therefore only in a few cases, we see GIS technology are applied in empirical analysis on the urban spatial structure ^{[1][ 8][ 11]} . However, in the domain of traditional urban studies where GIS tech is relatively new, examinations on urban spatial structure rely on theoretical abstraction and hypothesis [9][ 10] with aspatially statistical data^{[12]-[ 15]}, as a result, the conclusions of these studies are more qualitative than quantitative in nature without strong data and methodological support. In this paper, remote sensing and GIS technologies are applied in analyzing the dynamics of the urban spatial structure in Shanghai, it could give a example on how to introduce these new technologies in traditional urban studies.

Multi-temporal land use information of the central city of Shanghai was obtained by the interpretation of areophotos in 1958, 1984 and 1996. In ArcView^® GIS, the quantitative and structural characteristics of land use change are analyzed through concentric and sector methods. Based on such analysis, a conceptual model of the spatial structure of Shanghai was brought forth. As the functions of the city shift from the secondary industry to the tertiary/secondary/primary industry development series, urban land use structure has undertaken profound change. Urban sprawl at the fringe and urban renewal in the inner city appear at the same time, the spatial pattern of the city is transforming from a uni-center to a multi-nuclei one.

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