TY - JOUR
T1 - Urbanization, economic development, and environmental changes in transitional economies in the global south
T2 - a case of Yangon
AU - Fan, Peilei
AU - Chen, Jiquan
AU - Fung, Cadi
AU - Naing, Zaw
AU - Ouyang, Zutao
AU - Nyunt, Khaing Moe
AU - Myint, Zin Nwe
AU - Qi, Jiaguo
AU - Messina, Joseph P.
AU - Myint, Soe W.
AU - Peter, Brad G.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (Grant numbers: NNX15AD51G, 80NSSC20K0740).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Background: Transitional economies in Southeast Asia—a distinct group of developing countries—have experienced rapid urbanization in the past several decades due to the economic transition that fundamentally changed the function of their economies, societies and the environment. Myanmar, one of the least developed transitional economies in Southeast Asia, increased urbanization substantially from 25% in 1990 to 31% in 2019. However, major knowledge gaps exist in understanding the changes in urban land use and land cover and environment and their drivers in its cities. Methods: We studied Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, for the urbanization, environmental changes, and the underlying driving forces in a radically transitioned economy in the developing world. Based on satellite imagery and historic land use maps, we quantified the expansion of urban built-up land and constructed the land conversion matrix from 1990 through 2020. We also used three air pollutants to illustrate the changes in environmental conditions. We analyzed the coupled dynamics among urbanization, economic development, and environmental changes. Through conducting a workshop with 20 local experts, we further analyzed the influence of human systems and natural systems on Yangon’s urbanization and sustainability. Results: The city of Yangon expanded urban built-up land rapidly from 1990 to 2000, slowed down from 2000 to 2010, but gained momentum again from 2010 to 2020, with most newly added urban built-up land appearing to be converted from farmland and green land in both 1990–2000 and 2010–2020. Furthermore, the air pollutant concentration of CO decreased, but that of NO2 and PM2.5 increased in recent years. A positive correlation exists between population and economic development and the concentration of PM2.5 is highly associated with population, the economy, and the number of vehicles. Finally, the expert panel also identified other potential drivers for urbanization, including the extreme climate event of Cyclone Nargis, capital relocation, and globalization. Conclusions: Our research highlights the dramatic expansion of urban land and degradation of urban environment measured by air pollutants and interdependent changes between urbanization, economic development, and environmental changes.
AB - Background: Transitional economies in Southeast Asia—a distinct group of developing countries—have experienced rapid urbanization in the past several decades due to the economic transition that fundamentally changed the function of their economies, societies and the environment. Myanmar, one of the least developed transitional economies in Southeast Asia, increased urbanization substantially from 25% in 1990 to 31% in 2019. However, major knowledge gaps exist in understanding the changes in urban land use and land cover and environment and their drivers in its cities. Methods: We studied Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, for the urbanization, environmental changes, and the underlying driving forces in a radically transitioned economy in the developing world. Based on satellite imagery and historic land use maps, we quantified the expansion of urban built-up land and constructed the land conversion matrix from 1990 through 2020. We also used three air pollutants to illustrate the changes in environmental conditions. We analyzed the coupled dynamics among urbanization, economic development, and environmental changes. Through conducting a workshop with 20 local experts, we further analyzed the influence of human systems and natural systems on Yangon’s urbanization and sustainability. Results: The city of Yangon expanded urban built-up land rapidly from 1990 to 2000, slowed down from 2000 to 2010, but gained momentum again from 2010 to 2020, with most newly added urban built-up land appearing to be converted from farmland and green land in both 1990–2000 and 2010–2020. Furthermore, the air pollutant concentration of CO decreased, but that of NO2 and PM2.5 increased in recent years. A positive correlation exists between population and economic development and the concentration of PM2.5 is highly associated with population, the economy, and the number of vehicles. Finally, the expert panel also identified other potential drivers for urbanization, including the extreme climate event of Cyclone Nargis, capital relocation, and globalization. Conclusions: Our research highlights the dramatic expansion of urban land and degradation of urban environment measured by air pollutants and interdependent changes between urbanization, economic development, and environmental changes.
KW - Capital relocation
KW - Economic development
KW - Environmental change
KW - Extreme climate event
KW - Globalization
KW - Myanmar
KW - Transitional economy
KW - Urbanization
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U2 - 10.1186/s13717-022-00409-6
DO - 10.1186/s13717-022-00409-6
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85141748281
SN - 2192-1709
VL - 11
JO - Ecological Processes
JF - Ecological Processes
IS - 1
M1 - 65
ER -