Spatiotemporal Evolution of County-Level Land Use Structure in the Context of Urban Shrinkage: Evidence from Northeast China
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This manuscript explores the spatial and temporal evolution of land use structure in Northeast China in the context of urban shrinkage, using county-level administrative regions as the unit of analysis. The findings have implications for arable land conservation and urban spatial growth management in Northeast China. It reflects the differences between the structural changes of land use in shrinking cities in China and western countries, and has some theoretical significance. However, the manuscript needs further improvement.
(1) The manuscript has not yet thoroughly sorted out the existing research on land use structural change.
（2） “2.3.3. Common Edge Measure Method”å’Œ“3.3. Expansion of Construction Land in Shrinking Units”
(2) "2.3.3. Common Edge Measure Method" and "3.3. Expansion of Construction Land in Shrinking Units " are not closely related to the study topic.
(3) Unlike Western countries, the definition of urban shrinkage in China is mainly based on changes in population size. Western countries summarize urban shrinkage characteristics in detail in terms of population size, urban spatial growth, urban revenue, and infrastructure development et al. This manuscript may have limitations in determining whether cities are shrinking based on population size changes only. Therefore, it is suggested that the authors should clarify the shortcomings of the definition of shrinking cities in this study among the limitations of the study, and the resulting findings may be difficult to accurately reflect the structural transformation of land use in shrinking cities.
(4) Some of the expressions are not precise. For example, from the available data, it is difficult to show that the population movement is mainly intra-regional. We can only say that the population concentration in sub-provincial cities is more significant.
(5) The paradox of population loss and construction land expansion in China may be closely related to China's special fiscal system.
(6) The dialogue with existing research needs to be further enhanced in the discussion. For example, these three papers explore the transformation of land use structure. “Land use change and economic growth in urban China： A structural equation analysis”,“Factors affecting newly increased construction land at different development stages Evidence from 352 Chinese”,”Land use transitions and their dynamic mechanism The case of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain”. In addition, the theoretical and practical significance of this study is not clearly reflected in conclusion.
Author Response
Dear reviewer,
Thank you so much for your conscientious and insightful review on our manuscript (Manuscript ID: land-1928439; Title: Spatiotemporal Evolution of County-level Land Use Structure in the Context of Urban Shrinkage: Evidence from Northeast China). The authors had learned a lot and improved our research work following your comments and suggestions. There were three reviewers who had made comments on our manuscript, and we were offered only ten days to revise the paper and have it checked for linguistic errors. However, we did study your comments very carefully and make revisions according to constructive suggestions. And the detailed reply is in the attachment below:
*The paper has been edited by a native English-speaker with a higher degree in a relevant discipline.
*Hope the revision meets requirements for publication and please let us know if you have further comments.
Sincerely yours
Wancong Li, Hong Li, Shijun Wang and Zhiqiang Feng
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
The work is very interesting, well done and comprehensive.
I would just like to point out one graphical aspect.
the graphs showing land cover changes are very appealing, but difficult to read.
I would have preferred to see a trivial land cover transition matrix.
This, however, is not a problem-
perhaps I would have included a table where for urban fabric I would have indicated the source areas.
This kind of elaboration would make the graphs easier to read.
Author Response
Dear reviewer,
The authors would like to thank you for the patient review and the affirmative comments of our manuscript (Manuscript ID: land-1928439; Title: Spatiotemporal Evolution of County-level Land Use Structure in the Context of Urban Shrinkage: Evidence from Northeast China). There were three reviewers who had made comments on our manuscript, and we were offered only ten days to revise the paper and have it checked for linguistic errors. The time is a little bit pressed for the revision according to these many comments. However, the authors have studied your comments very carefully and revised the manuscript strictly in accordance with your suggestion. The revisions and explanation were listed as follow attachment.
*The paper has been edited by a native English-speaker with a higher degree in a relevant discipline.
*Hope the revision meets requirements for publication and please let us know if you have further comments.
Sincerely yours
Wancong Li, Hong Li, Shijun Wang and Zhiqiang Feng
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments to authors:
Since China's reform and opening-up, population growth and increased urbanization is a common perception. In recent years, urban expansion but population decline in Northeast China is a phenomenon that deserves in-depth study. This work attempts to understand the urban expansion and characteristics of the study area through the land use change and to link the causes of population decline. This is a well-organized manuscript. I believe that the topic is essential and fits within the scope of the Land. I think the manuscript has room for improvement before recommending it for publication.
*1. The accuracy of the land cover data needs to be clarified. As far as I know, the CLUD product officially only gives the accuracy assessment at the national scale. The availability of this data for regional scales is unknown. I recommend the authors carry out validation, especially for construction land.
*2. Figure7&8: I don’t think it is necessary to analyze the scenarios that not involved the conversion of construction land. The authors only need to show which land types were converted out of construction land and which land types were converted into construction land during the study period.
*3. I suggest that the discussion section further strengthen the quantitative analysis. I have seen the authors cite some indicators and statistical examples to explain the reasons. I hope the authors could be to build some correlated socioeconomic indicators to quantify and systematically analyze the causes of urban expansion and yet population decline in the Northeast.
*4. Line146-150: How many counties are missing data should be clarified. Whether the influence of the missing data on the overall accuracy by interpolation within an acceptable range?
*5. Line 121: Figure 1, please highlight A and B, not the location of the study area.
*6. The art of figures could be further improved.
Author Response
Dear reviewer,
Sincere thanks to you for the patient review and affirmative comments of our manuscript. We really appreciate your constructive comments and we’ve been aware of the shortcomings of our manuscripts (Manuscript ID: land-1928439; Title: Spatiotemporal Evolution of County-level Land Use Structure in the Context of Urban Shrinkage: Evidence from Northeast China). There were three reviewers who had made comments on our manuscript, and we were offered only ten days to revise the paper and have it checked for linguistic errors. However, the authors have studied your comments carefully and revised the manuscript as follow attachment.
*The paper has been edited by a native English-speaker with a higher degree in a relevant discipline.
*Hope the revision meets requirements for publication and please let us know if you have further comments.
Sincerely yours
Wancong Li, Hong Li, Shijun Wang and Zhiqiang Feng
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors have addressed my concern and the paper has been well revised. I recommend publishing it in Land.
Congratulations on your work!
