Postwar trends, land-cover changes, and patterns of suburban development: the case of Greater Seattle

A primary objective of this research is to enhance our understanding of the dynamic and complex patterns of suburban growth and to explore the spatial characteristics of land-use distribution during the last few decades of metropolitan expansion. Traditionally, studies of distribution of activities within metropolitan regions have been carried out on vastly aggregated spatial units of analysis based on census geography. Recent innovations in computer technology and software developoment in the field of geographic information systems have allowed much more comprehensive, high-level resolution studies to be undertaken. The study, presented in this paper, is an attempt to develop a fine-grained inspection of the evolution of suburban growth patterns through a detailed documentation of land-use-cover changes in the suburban periphery of Seattle.