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Rapid irreversible changes in land cover in recent days are due to unplanned urban planning in a region. Urban growth is driven by burgeoning population and has been accompanied with the mismanagement of natural resources. Urbanization subsequent to opening up of Indian markets in early ninety’s show dominant changes in land use during the last two decades. Human-induced land use changes are the prime drivers of the global environmental changes. Urban regions in India are experiencing the faster rates of urban dominance, while peri-urban areas are experiencing sprawl. Megalopolis regions (Tier II cities) in India are undergoing land cover changes in recent times and need to be planned to minimize the impacts of unplanned urbanisation. This report focuses on seven Megalopolis regions (tier II cities), chosen based on population. Mysore, Shimoga, Hubli, Dharwad, Raichur, Belgaum, Gulbarga and Bellary are the rapidly urbanizing regions of Karnataka, India. In this study, an integrated approach of remote sensing and spatial metrics with gradient analysis was used to identify the trends of urban land changes with a minimum buffer of 3 km buffer from the city boundary has been studied (based on availability of data), which help in the implementation of location specific mitigation measures. Results indicated a significant increase of urban built-up area during the last four decades. Landscape metrics indicates the coalescence of urban areas has occurred in almost all these regions. Urban growth has been clumped at the center with simple shapes and dispersed growth in the boundary region and the peri-urban regions with convoluted shapes.

Keywords - Land cover, land use, Landscape Metrics, Urbanisation, Urban Sprawl, Remote sensing, Tier II, Karnataka, India