The conversion of agricultural land in the peri-urban areas of Hanoi (Vietnam): patterns in space and time

Rapid urbanization is accelerating the loss of agricultural land in Hanoi (Vietnam), raising concerns about food provision for inner citizens and livelihoods of peri-urban farmers. Understanding how this loss is linked with urban expansion is important to predict impacts of urbanization on peri-urban agriculture. In this paper, we examine the conversion of agricultural land to built-up land in Hanoi by using Landsat images (1993, 2000 and 2007). About one-third of the agricultural land was converted to builtup areas. Agricultural patches tend to be more fragmented and to have irregular shapes. Areal loss, fragmentation and edge irregularity of agricultural land appear to be related to the change from rural status into urban status. Such tendencies of the conversion correspond to urban growth patterns in Hanoi (infill, expansion and linear branches). This study calls for immediate measures to protect agricultural land and accelerate the creation of the green belt in Hanoi.