Abstract
Railways are a crucial part of the African transport network and have a significant impact on the socio-economy and urban development. Previous studies have mainly considered the impacts of railways in Africa from the perspective of economy, politics, security, and natural environment with few attempts to consider land use. Based on Landsat remote sensing data for the 10 km buffer zone along the Ethiopian section of the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway (ADR) in 2013, 2017, and 2021, we studied the land use change (LUC) in the area and explored its influencing factors using the ordinary least square model (OLS) and geographical weighted regression model (GWR). There were six key results. (1) Farmland, forest, grassland, and others (including sandy land and bare land) were the primary types of land use, but from 2013 to 2021, the area of built-up land and farmland increased, whereas the area of forest, grassland, and other land decreased. (2) There was a noticeable pattern in the degree of change in the area of built-up land, farmland, and forest as the buffer distance increased along the railway. This pattern indicated a gradual shift in land use and LUC gradients. (3) The land use structure and its changes in the areas surrounding different stations displayed obvious differences. (4) The construction and operation of the ADR is one of the direct factors affecting landscape change along the railway. (5) The distance from the train station, whether the station provides a passenger service, the population size, and the distance from the central city had a positive effect on the expansion of built-up land surrounding the station. The factor of whether the station provides a freight service had a negative correlation with the expansion of built-up land. Socio-economic factors have gradually replaced railway factors as the main driving force of the expansion of built-up land around the stations. (6) The effect strength of different factors on the expansion of built-up land varied in the areas surrounding different stations.
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Foundation: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.52078115
Author: Zhao Shengbo (1991–), Postdoctoral Researcher, specialized in urbanization and urban planning in Africa. E-mail: shengbo2016@seu.edu.cn
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Zhao, S., Qi, J., Li, D. et al. Land use change and its influencing factors along railways in Africa: A case study of the Ethiopian section of the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway. J. Geogr. Sci. 34, 1128–1156 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-024-2242-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-024-2242-y