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167266-1 Report Abstract

Simulating Land Use Impacts of Highway Development in the Texas Triangle – A Case Study of the Austin Metropolitan Region

Ming Zhang and Tian Haung, University of Texas at Austin, March 2008, 63 pp. (167266-1)

This report is part of an ongoing research on Texas Triangle megaregion, which refers to the region delineated by the metropolitan areas of Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio/Austin, and Huston. As the region expects a population growth by approximately 10 million in the next 40 years, it is important to understand the land use/land cover (LULC) implications of the vast growth. Even more important is to understand how public policies and investments (in infrastructure, for example) will influence LULC. The study reported here focuses on the effect of highway construction on LULC through a case study of the Austin, TX area.  The methodologies developed from the Austin case may be applied to the entire Triangle to understand the effects of state-wide transportation strategies, for example, the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), on urban development outcome in the region. The Austin case study included three parts. First, historical data on highway constructions in the Austin area are collected and visualized in GIS. Next, land use/land cover maps are derived from classifying LandSat images. A binary logit model is then formulated, quantifying the impacts of transportation accessibility and neighborhoods on the likelihood of LULC change.

Keywords: Land Use/Land Cover Change, Highway Development, Austin, Texas Triangle, GIS

ENTIRE REPORT (Adobe Acrobat File – 11.3 MB)