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Major Employers in Small Towns: Modeling the Spatio-temporal Impacts on Land Use and Land Cover Changes at a Regional Scale

Ghosh, Sudeshna
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1378196039

Abstract Details

2013, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Regional Development Planning.
My dissertation examines the Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) change impacts of major employers locating in small towns and rural areas both spatially and temporally at a regional scale. Major employer location has for decades been considered a powerful tool for economic development in small towns and rural areas, however, the impacts of such employers in instigating development activities and LULC changes are rarely evaluated even though they are acknowledged in the literature. Using the case study of the Toyota plant location near Georgetown in rural Scott County, this research develops Cellular Automata and Markov Chain Analysis (CA_MCA) based LULC change models to assess the Toyota plant impacts within 9 counties adjoining Scott from the 1980s to 2000s. The influence of a set of local socio-economic, geographic, biophysical, and land use control factors that drive LULC changes are also incorporated in the models. Two LULC change scenarios – Scenario 1 and 2 – are developed to estimate the LULC changes as impacted by the plant and understand the process of development over time and space. Scenario 1 is developed with LULC and other datasets from the pre-Toyota phase to predict the LULC changes in the region in absence of the plant, and then the predicted images are compared with the actual ones to estimate the plant impacts. Scenario 2 is developed with datasets from the post-Toyota phase to understand the changing influence of the plant in the region over time. The significance of this research is that it applies advanced methodologies for assessment of LULC changes that often occur in small towns and rural areas following large-scale economic development projects, and can assist planners and policy makers with better understanding of locations and time-frames of LULC changes so that valuable land resources can be efficiently developed, managed or protected in sustainable ways.
Carla Chifos, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Christopher Auffrey, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Michael Romanos, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Xinhao Wang, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
296 p.
Urban Planning
Major Employers in Small Towns; Economic Development; Small Town and Rural Development; LULC Change Modeling; CA Markov Modeling; Toyota Plant in Georgetown, Kentucky

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ghosh, S. (2013). Major Employers in Small Towns: Modeling the Spatio-temporal Impacts on Land Use and Land Cover Changes at a Regional Scale [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1378196039

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ghosh, Sudeshna. Major Employers in Small Towns: Modeling the Spatio-temporal Impacts on Land Use and Land Cover Changes at a Regional Scale. 2013. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1378196039.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ghosh, Sudeshna. "Major Employers in Small Towns: Modeling the Spatio-temporal Impacts on Land Use and Land Cover Changes at a Regional Scale." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1378196039

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1378196039
315
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.