Changsha has undergone speedy socio-economic development, rapid modification of industrial structure, and acceleration of urbanization, which has influenced land cover change during the most recent three decades. Policies have aimed to conserve total agricultural area, but it is not clear how successful these policies have been. Our purpose is to characterize and interpret spatiotemporal patterns of land change with respect to the policy to maintain agricultural area in Changsha, China. Maps at 1990, 2000, and 2010 show four land categories: Bu...