The Road Network Evolution Analysis of Guangzhou-Foshan Metropolitan Area Based on Kernel Density Estimation

Based on 1:50000 topographic maps of 1957 and 1983, and remote sensing images taken in 1995 and 2008, we extracted, normalized the thematic data of road network, built up a database for the road network of Guangzhou-Foshan metropolitan area in ArcGIS. Using kernel density estimation, we measured and discussed the road network spatial-temporal evolution in Guangzhou-Foshan metropolitan area. The results show that: In the past five decades, the development of road network in Guangzhou-Foshan metropolitan area was great. The road network density “core” was a “single core” in 1957, then it became to a “dual-core”, and then it developed to a “poly-core”, and the “core” area grew bigger and bigger.