Landscape Pattern Evolution in a Mining City: An Urban Life Cycle Perspective

Quantitative studies on how mining activities shape the evolution of regional landscape patterns can contribute to the scientific understanding of how mining cities develop. Based on the theories of life cycle and landscape ecology, this paper takes Jixi, a typical Chinese mining city, as a case study to analyze the landscape pattern features at different mining city development stages. First, we constructed a mining city development cycle index system. Second, the optimal granularity for landscape pattern analysis was determined. Finally, landscape evolution was analyzed at the type and landscape levels based on the mining city development cycle. The main conclusions are: (1) Jixi has gone through four stages since 1990: lead-in (1990–1998), development (1998–2009), maturity (2009–2016), and transition (2016–2020); (2) the optimal grain size for landscape pattern analysis is 90 m; (3) through the various development stages, the landscape fragmentation degree, complexity, and diversity show a tendency to rise first and then fall. Thus, mining cities should carry out sustainable development planning from the perspective of industrial transformation in the early stages, and policy orientation in the development process should have different emphases according to each stage.