**1. Introduction**

Morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases related to environmental pollution are increasing alongside urbanization in China [1,2]. Urbanization is a spatiotemporal process by which urban components are transformed. These components include land use, industry, population, and many other natural and socioeconomic factors within the urban territorial system. These transitions inevitably affect public health. In this regard, there is an urgent need to understand the relationship between urban land expansion, urbanization, and environmental health issues in China.

In recent decades, China has seen unparalleled speed in rural–urban transition. The urban population rose from 191 million in 1980 to 831 million in 2018, and the urbanization rate reached 59.58% [3]. In general, urbanization improves living conditions, including education, employment, services, income, and health [4]. However, unplanned urban expansion often causes environmental hazards and health risks within the developing world [5–7]. China's urbanization, both historical and present, was accompanied by the process of industrialization. With rapid growth in industrialization, China's urbanization led to widespread environmental pollution and damage, especially in terms of land pollution and degradation [8–10]. Decommissioned industrial sites and current industrial

**Citation:** Yang, D.; Ye, C.; Xu, J. Land-Use Change and Health Risks in the Process of Urbanization: A Spatiotemporal Interpretation of a Typical Case in Changzhou, China. *Land* **2021**, *10*, 820. https:// doi.org/10.3390/land10080820

Academic Editor: Shiliang Su

Received: 2 July 2021 Accepted: 3 August 2021 Published: 5 August 2021

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parks have contaminated and seriously deteriorated the land [11,12]. The fast pace of urban development left little time for careful planning and design. Having experienced 30 years of rapid growth and urbanization, China now faces unique environmental health challenges [13,14].

There are numerous studies on environmental health issues caused by urbanization [2,13,15]. Different aspects of urban living, including income, healthcare, and education, were considered determinants that might affect public health [15–17]. In particular, environmental pollution has long been identified as a major risk factor [2,18,19]. Brownfields and industry parks often use hazardous substances and pollutants, and these have been a major concern of researchers [20–26]. Many studies have focused on pollution exposure and health risk assessments based on environmental pollution around brownfields and industry parks [22,27–29]. Simultaneously, scholars have documented that the proportion of mortality caused by chronic diseases and cancer increased obviously in urban China [30], and chronic disease incidence rates were higher in big cities than in small cities and rural areas in China [13]. Meanwhile, the dynamic changes in health risks during the urbanization process and the evolutionary relationship between urbanization, urban land change and health risks has rarely been studied, especially at the scale of a city. Hence, there is a need to adopt a spatiotemporal perspective to urbanization in order to understand environmental health issues in China.

Urbanization is a dynamic spatiotemporal process during which natural and human factors radically change from rural to urban. Different patterns of urbanization differ in how quickly they develop, and with regard to their effects on land and public health. Considering the spatiotemporal transformations of urban components—including land use, industry, and population—we offer an interpretation of the relationship between land-use change and health issues in Changzhou, China. In what follows, we present our findings and discuss policy implications. We expect that our results will contribute to effective policymaking regarding urbanization in order to abate urban land pollution and health risks for the sake of urban sustainability.
