基于1988、1992、1997、2000和2004年5期Landsat TM卫星遥感影像数据，采用GIS空间分析和景观格局分析的方法,分析了辽宁中部城市群城市增长的时空格局特征，并对其驱动力进行了探讨.结果表明: 1988—2004年间,辽宁中部城市群城市面积持续增加,增长强度逐渐增强, 城市面积由812.55 km2增至1345.86km2, 平均增长速率为32-96 km2·a-1；1997年以后，城市增长强度迅速增大，以1997—2000年的城市扩展强度最大；辽宁中部城市群的城市增长主要集中在中部城镇密集带.1988—1997年，研究区城市面积的增长速度较慢，空间结构紧凑，以边缘增长和填充增长为主；1997—2004年，城市面积增长较快，表现为扩散的城市增长格局和复杂的城市斑块形状，以开发区的飞地式增长和扩散增长为主.非农业人口增长、经济增长、城市群城市空间的相互吸引、工业发展与开发区建设政策等因素是辽宁中部城市群城市空间快速增长的主要驱动力.
Based on the five temporal Landsat TM remote sensing data of 1988, 1992, 1997, 2000, and 2004, and by using GIS spatial analysis and landscape pattern analysis, this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal pattern of urban growth and its driving forces in the urban agglomeration of central Liaoning Province (UACLP). From 1988 to 2004, the urban area in the UACLP had being increased from 812.55 km2 to 1345.86 km2, with an average growth rate of 32.96 km2 per year. The urban growth rate increased rapidly after 1997, and the urban growth intensity was up to the peak in 1997-2000. The urban growth was mainly concentrated in the central dense belt of the UACLP. From 1988 to 1997, the urban growth was relatively slow, its spatial pattern was compact, and edge growth and filling were the main urban growth types. From 1997 to 2004, the urban growth became faster with diffused spatial pattern and complex patch shape, and “frog leap” and diffusion were the main urban growth types. Non-agricultural population growth, economic growth, urban spatial mutual attraction, industrial development, and development zones construction policies were the main driving forces of urban growth in the UACLP.