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Keywords: geospatial techniques, land use/cover, urban expansion, change detection, directional expansion
ABSTRACT
This study illustrates the use of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques (i.e. geospatial techniques) for mapping and evaluating urban sprawl in the case of Nagpur city, Maharashtra (India). We used the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery of 1998 and 2010 for quantifying land use/cover and urban growth changes. Maximum likelihood algorithm was used to classify satellite images in ERDAS Imagine software. The spatial analysis of urban sprawl was performed in Arc GIS package using change detection, change matrix and road buffering. The results obtained from the classified Landsat TM image of year 1998 revealed that the total built-up area of Nagpur city was of 83.11 km^sup 2^ (34.53 % of total geographical area of a city) and increased up to 120.29 km^sup 2^ (50.0 %) in 2010. Therefore, the spatial expansion of built-up area over a 12 year period (from 1998 to 2010) was estimated at 37.18 km^sup 2^. The study also reveals that the built-up area has maximally expanded towards east, with about 8.94 km^sup 2^, whereas the minimum expansion has occurred towards west, with about 2.6 km^sup 2^. This paper also highlights the changes in other land cover categories during the period under analysis. This study may provide reliable inputs for urban planners who are planning to provide basic amenities such as water, sanitation, electricity, etc. in the Nagpur city.
1. INTRODUCTION
Urban expansion or sprawling is the greatest challenge of this century in the developing countries where it takes place due to rapid population growth, economic development and infrastructural development initiatives.
Urban sprawl has always remained an important area of research in academic circles over the world [1]. Gordon and Richardson (1997) have described urban sprawl as a leapfrog development. This phenomenon usually takes place either in radial direction around city center or linear direction along the highways and drives the change in land use patterns [2], [3].
The global urban population has increased from 13% (220 million in 1900) to 49% (3.2 billion in 2005) and it is projected to escalate to 60% (4.9 billion) by 2030 [4]. Urban sprawl has been criticized for the inefficient use of land resources and energy and large-scale encroachment...