Summary
Rapid and invasive urbanization has been associated with depletion of natural resources (vegetation and
water resources), which in turn deteriorates the landscape structure and conditions in the local environment.
Rapid increase in population due to the migration from rural areas is one of the critical issues of
the urban growth. Urbanisation in India is drastically changing the land cover and often resulting in the
sprawl. The sprawl regions often lack basic amenities such as treated water supply, sanitation, etc. This
necessitates regular monitoring and understanding of the rate of urban development in order to ensure
the sustenance of natural resources .Urban sprawl is the extent of urbanization which leads to the
development of urban forms with the destruction of ecology and natural landforms. The rate of change of
land use and extent of urban sprawl can be efficiently visualized and modelled with the help of geoinformatics.
The knowledge of urban area, especially the growth magnitude, shape geometry, and spatial
pattern is essential to understand the growth and characteristics of urbanization process. Urban pattern,
shape and growth can be quantified using spatial metrics. This communication quantifies the urbanisation
and associated growth pattern in Delhi. Spatial data of four decades were analysed to understand
land over and land use dynamics. Further the region was divided into 4 zones and into circles of 1 km
incrementing radius to understand and quantify the local spatial changes. Results of the landscape
metrics indicate that the urban center was highly aggregated and the outskirts and the buffer regions
were in the verge of aggregating urban patches. Shannon’s Entropy index clearly depicted the outgrowth
of sprawl areas in different zones of Delhi.
Keywords:
Keywords:Urbanization
Urban sprawl
Delhi
Remote sensing
Spatial metrics .
Citation :T.V. Ramachandra, Bharath H. Aithal and M.V. Sowmyashree, 2015. Monitoring urbanization and its implications in a mega city from space: Spatiotemporal patterns and its indicators, Journal of Environmental Management, 148 (2015):67-81, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.02.015.
Corresponding author:
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Dr. T.V. Ramachandra Energy & Wetlands Research Group, CES TE 15
Centre for Ecological Sciences
New Bioscience Building, Third Floor, E –Wing
[Near D-Gate], Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560 012, INDIA.
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Tel : +91-80-2293 3099/2293 3503 - extn 107
Fax : 91-80-23601428 / 23600085 / 23600683 [CES-TVR]
E-mail : cestvr@ces.iisc.ernet.in, energy@ces.iisc.ernet.in,
Web : http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy |
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