Land use patterns and landscape structures on the islands in Jeonnam Province’s Shinan County occasioned by the construction of mainland bridges

Land use in a specific region reflects the prevailing socioeconomic circumstances and cultures within that region. To this end, the current study analyzes the landscape structure of Shinan County using landscape indices based on land use to compare various socio-economic factors of the culture found on the islands of Shinan County. In addition, a cluster analysis was conducted to learn about the characteristics of islands exhibiting the same landscape structure. This analysis revealed that the landscape of the second largest island in Shinan County, Jido, was more fragmented than that of the biggest island Aphae. The cluster analysis led to the creation of three groups of islands exhibiting similar landscape structures. Group 1 is composed of the islands which are connected by a mainland bridge (called ‘yeonyukgyo’ in Korean). Group 2 and 3 also include the upper islands (those islands located in the northern area) and lower islands (those islands located in the southern area) in Shinan County. The presence of more advanced transportation systems and structures occasioned by their proximity to the island of Jido which was connected at an early date to the mainland ensured that the upper islands have historically been more frequently visited.