Land use∖cover change and influencing factors inside the urban development boundary of different level cities: A case study in Hubei Province, China

Cities are divided into different levels around the world, which is manifested as cities are managed according to the urban administrative level system in China, urban development boundary (UDB) has always been an spatial policy to limit the scope of urban sprawl. There is a lack of comparative studies on LUCC and influencing factors inside the UDBs of different level cities. Based on the methods of descriptive statistical analysis, transition matrix analysis, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and OLS regression, this paper takes Hubei Province, China as an example to study the statistical regularities of LUCC and its influencing factors within the UDBs of different level cities from 2006 to 2020. The results showed that LUCC is different within the UDBs of different level cities, economic and social factors are related to major types of LUCC at the level of PGHP city, correlations between economic and social factors and major types of LUCC is small at the level of PGPL city, and the influence of environmental governance on LUCC is increasing at the level of PGPL city. differentiated control should be carried out according to the level of city in the process of formulating and implementing the policies of land use management.