Urban sprawl in Beijing suburbs threatens arable land and natural habitats.
The study looked at how land use changed as Beijing's suburbs urbanized. They found that different stages of development had different impacts. In the 1990s, there was a lot of new construction. By the early 2000s, urban areas were growing, but more controlled. The focus shifted to suburbs, and more land was used for urban purposes. The study showed that land use changed around expressways, affecting how cities expanded.