Da Nang City located in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam has developed in many
aspects in the last two decades and has been known as one of the five independent
municipalities of Vietnam. Today it constitutes the Key Economic Zone in Central Vietnam.
Rapid industrialization and urbanization have caused incessant change of land use and land
cover (LULC) in Da Nang City.Linh Nguyen's study aims at detecting quantifying and
characterizing the changes of LULC in the Da Nang City region by using multitemporal satellite
images from 1979 to 2009 it further explores the effects of LULC changes on landscape
structure through spatial landscape metrics. In a simulation it also shows the changes of LULC
under different scenarios utilizing the model of system dynamics and the model of dynamic
conversion of land use and its effects.The results show that 37% of the total land has
undergone change. Before being separated from Quang Nam Province (1979-1996) the LULC in Da
Nang City changed gradually. However after becoming an independent municipality the LULC
changed with accelerated speed especially in the urban areas. Within 13 years (1996-2009) the
urban area grew by 86.6%.The study suggests this is caused by a strong focus on economic
development. Conversely agriculture and forests had a high rate of change. The dynamic change
of landscape indices reveal that agricultural areas were broken into smaller patches. However
except agriculture patches of forestry and urban spaces tended to have a uniform landscape
configuration. To simulate the future changes of LULC at Da Nang City from 2009 to 2030 three
scenarios with different missions were developed namely Development as Usual Aggressive
Development and Optimal Development. All scenarios result in a continuous increase in urban
area and a gradual decrease in agriculture barren and shrub areas during the simulated
period.The study provides new strategies for land use planning in comparable regions facing
rapid urbanization.
