{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T15:23:16Z","timestamp":1781623396529,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,4]],"date-time":"2019-02-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1549238400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Understanding the dynamics of polycentric urbanization is important for urban studies and management. This paper proposes an analytical model that uses multisource big geospatial data to characterize such dynamics to facilitate policy making. There are four main steps: (1) main centers and subcenters are identified using spatial cluster analysis and geographically weighted regression (GWR) based on Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)\/NPP and social media check-in data; (2) the built-up areas are extracted by using Defense Meteorological Satellite Program\u2014Operational Linescan System (DMSP\/OLS) gradient images; (3) the economic corridors that connect the main center and subcenters are constructed using road network data from Open Street Map (OSM) with the least-cost distance method; and (4) the major urban development direction is identified by analyzing the changes in built-up areas within the economic corridors. The model is applied to three major cities in northeastern, central, and northwestern China (Shenyang, Wuhan, and Xi\u2019an) from 1992 to 2012.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs11030310","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,5]],"date-time":"2019-02-05T11:31:07Z","timestamp":1549366267000},"page":"310","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":27,"title":["Modeling Polycentric Urbanization Using Multisource Big Geospatial Data"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0505-5724","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhiwei","family":"Xie","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Transportation Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang 110168, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8838-9476","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xinyue","family":"Ye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Urban Informatics &amp; Spatial Computing Lab, Department of Informatics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0700-2127","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zihao","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, 35020 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7527-5645","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dong","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Innovation Center for Technology, Beijing Tsinghua Tongheng Urban Planning &amp; Design Institute, Beijing 100085, China"},{"name":"Beijing Key Laboratory of Megaregions Sustainable Development Modelling, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lishuang","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Transportation Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang 110168, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ruren","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Transportation Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang 110168, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samuel","family":"Benya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Urban Informatics &amp; Spatial Computing Lab, Department of Informatics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"440","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-2427.2006.00671.x","article-title":"Four theses in the study of China\u2019s urbanization","volume":"30","author":"Friedmann","year":"2006","journal-title":"Int. J. Urban Regional Res."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"158","DOI":"10.1038\/509158a","article-title":"Society: Realizing China\u2019s urban dream","volume":"509","author":"Bai","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nat. News"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"210","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2017.06.039","article-title":"Using multi-source geospatial big data to identify the structure of polycentric cities","volume":"202","author":"Cai","year":"2017","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"448","DOI":"10.1006\/juec.2001.2228","article-title":"Nonparametric employment subcenter identification","volume":"50","author":"McMillen","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Urban Econ."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"583","DOI":"10.1191\/0309132503ph449oa","article-title":"Contrasts in agglomeration: proto-industrial, industrial and post-industrial forms compared","volume":"27","author":"Phelps","year":"2003","journal-title":"Prog. Hum. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"29","article-title":"Benchmarking Economic Corridors logistics performance: A GMS border crossing observation","volume":"4","author":"Banomyong","year":"2010","journal-title":"World Cust. J."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1954","DOI":"10.1080\/00343404.2013.786827","article-title":"Polycentric structures in Latin American metropolitan areas: Identifying employment sub-centres","volume":"48","author":"Romein","year":"2014","journal-title":"Reg. Stud."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liu, Z., and Liu, S. (2018). Polycentric Development and the Role of Urban Polycentric Planning in China\u2019s Mega Cities: An Examination of Beijing\u2019s Metropolitan Area. Sustainability, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/su10051588"},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"Kresl, P.K. (2015). Planning Cities for the Future: The Successes and Failures of Urban Economic Strategies in Europe, Edward Elgar Publishing."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landurbplan.2016.03.007","article-title":"How polycentric is urban China and why? A case study of 318 cities","volume":"151","author":"Liu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Landsc. Urban Plan."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liu, X., Derudder, B., and Wang, M. (2017). Polycentric urban development in China: A multi-scale analysis. Environ. Plan. B Urban Anal. City Sci.","DOI":"10.1177\/2399808317690155"},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"167","article-title":"Urban growth and polycentric settlements: An exploratory analysis of socioeconomic and demographic indicators in Emilia Romagna, Italy","volume":"26","author":"Salvati","year":"2016","journal-title":"Ital. J. Appl. Stat"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"779","DOI":"10.1007\/s41324-017-0141-3","article-title":"Exploring the lateral expansion dynamics of four metropolitan cities of India using DMSP\/OLS night time image","volume":"25","author":"Ghosh","year":"2017","journal-title":"Spat. Inf. Res."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e12343","DOI":"10.1111\/conl.12343","article-title":"Social Media Data Can Be Used to Understand Tourists\u2019 Preferences for Nature-Based Experiences in Protected Areas","volume":"11","author":"Hausmann","year":"2018","journal-title":"Conserv. Lett."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2017.11.008","article-title":"Hyper-resolution monitoring of urban flooding with social media and crowdsourcing data","volume":"111","author":"Wang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_16","first-page":"26","article-title":"Urbanization in European regions based on night lights","volume":"2","author":"Stathakis","year":"2015","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Appl. Soc. Environ."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"148","DOI":"10.3390\/land3010148","article-title":"Mapping urban transitions using multi-temporal Landsat and DMSP-OLS night-time lights imagery of the Red River Delta in Vietnam","volume":"3","author":"Castrence","year":"2014","journal-title":"Land"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"595","DOI":"10.1080\/01431160304982","article-title":"Validation of urban boundaries derived from global night-time satellite imagery","volume":"24","author":"Henderson","year":"2003","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zheng, Q., and Wang, K. (2018, January 22\u201327). Analysis of the Spatio-Temporal Dynamic of Polycentric City Using Night-Time Light Remote Sensing Imagery. Proceedings of the IGARSS 2018\u20142018 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Valencia, Spain.","DOI":"10.1109\/IGARSS.2018.8517871"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6305","DOI":"10.1109\/TGRS.2017.2725917","article-title":"A new approach for detecting urban centers and their spatial structure with nighttime light remote sensing","volume":"55","author":"Chen","year":"2017","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2012.10.022","article-title":"The vegetation adjusted NTL urban index: A new approach to reduce saturation and increase variation in nighttime luminosity","volume":"129","author":"Zhang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhao, M., Cheng, W., Zhou, C., Li, M., Huang, K., and Wang, N. (2018). Assessing spatiotemporal characteristics of urbanization dynamics in southeast asia using time series of dmsp\/ols nighttime light data. Remote Sens., 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs10010047"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, Q., Lu, L., Weng, Q., Xie, Y., and Guo, H. (2016). Monitoring urban dynamics in the southeast USA using time-series DMSP\/OLS nightlight imagery. Remote Sens., 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs8070578"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bushor.2009.09.003","article-title":"Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media","volume":"53","author":"Kaplan","year":"2010","journal-title":"Bus. Horiz."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"(2015, November 18). Weibo reports third quarter 2015 results. Available online: http:\/\/www.nasdaq.com\/press-release\/weibo-reports-third-quarter-2015-results-20151118-01121."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"174","DOI":"10.1007\/s11442-006-0205-0","article-title":"The urbanization process of Bohai Rim in the 1990s by using DMSP\/OLS data","volume":"16","author":"He","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Geogr. Sci."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1109\/MPRV.2008.80","article-title":"OpenStreetMap: User-Generated Street Maps","volume":"7","author":"Haklay","year":"2008","journal-title":"IEEE Pervasive Comput."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Estima, J., and Painho, M. (2015). Investigating the potential of OpenStreetMap for land use\/land cover production: A case study for continental Portugal, in OpenStreetMap in GIScience, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-14280-7_14"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"140","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apgeog.2015.12.006","article-title":"Integrating OpenStreetMap crowdsourced data and Landsat time-series imagery for rapid land use\/land cover (LULC) mapping: Case study of the Laguna de Bay area of the Philippines","volume":"67","author":"Johnson","year":"2016","journal-title":"Appl. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"Weng, Q. (2011). National Trends in Satellite Observed Lighting: 1992\u20132009, In Global Urban Monitoring and Assessment through Earth Observation, Taylor&Fancis Group."},{"key":"ref_31","unstructured":"Clifford, N., French, S., Cope, M., and Gillespie, T. (2016). Using Geotagged Digital Social Datain Geographic Research. Key Methods in Geography, Sage."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen, Q., Li, L., Xu, Q., Yang, S., Shi, X., and Liu, X. (2017). Multi-Feature Segmentation for High-Resolution Polarimetric SAR Data Based on Fractal Net Evolution Approach. Remote Sens., 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs9060570"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"McMillen, D.P. (2004). Geographically Weighted Regression: The Analysis of Spatially Varying Relationships, Oxford University Press.","DOI":"10.1111\/j.0002-9092.2004.600_2.x"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"295","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2016.02.009","article-title":"Impervious surface detection with nighttime photography from the International Space Station","volume":"176","author":"Kotarba","year":"2016","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1016\/0262-8856(83)90006-9","article-title":"On the accuracy of the Sobel edge detector","volume":"1","author":"Kittler","year":"1983","journal-title":"Image Vis. Comput."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"351","DOI":"10.1016\/j.worlddev.2017.06.001","article-title":"The road to growth: Measuring the tradeoffs between economic growth and ecological destruction","volume":"101","author":"Damania","year":"2018","journal-title":"World Dev."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"62","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landurbplan.2012.02.013","article-title":"Extracting the dynamics of urban expansion in China using DMSP-OLS nighttime light data from 1992 to 2008","volume":"106","author":"Liu","year":"2012","journal-title":"Landsc. Urban Plan."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2320","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2011.04.032","article-title":"Mapping urbanization dynamics at regional and global scales using multi-temporal DMSP\/OLS nighttime light data","volume":"115","author":"Zhang","year":"2011","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lembani, R.L., Knight, J., and Adam, E. (2018). Use of Landsat multi-temporal imagery to assess secondary growth Miombo woodlands in Luanshya, Zambia. South. For. J. For. Sci., 1\u201312.","DOI":"10.2989\/20702620.2018.1520026"},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1016\/S0034-4257(98)00098-4","article-title":"Radiance calibration of DMSP-OLS low-light imaging data of human settlements","volume":"68","author":"Elvidge","year":"1999","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11664","DOI":"10.1002\/2013JD020418","article-title":"Suomi NPP VIIRS sensor data record verification, validation, and long-term performance monitoring","volume":"118","author":"Cao","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Atmos."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"158","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhydrol.2010.12.027","article-title":"GIS mapping of regional probabilistic groundwater potential in the area of Pohang City, Korea","volume":"399","author":"Oh","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1511","DOI":"10.1007\/s10040-012-0894-7","article-title":"Regional groundwater productivity potential mapping using a geographic information system (GIS) based artificial neural network model","volume":"20","author":"Lee","year":"2012","journal-title":"Hydrogeol. J."}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/11\/3\/310\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T12:30:58Z","timestamp":1760185858000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/11\/3\/310"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,4]]},"references-count":43,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,2]]}},"alternative-id":["rs11030310"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs11030310","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,4]]}}}