Ramachandra. T.V ^1,2,3,*, Bharath H. Aithal², Sowmyashree M.V^1
1Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Center for Ecological Sciences [CES]
²Centre for Sustainable Technologies (astra)
³Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning [CiSTUP] Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, 560 012, India
^*Corresponding Author: cestvr@ces.iisc.ernet.in

Conclusion

The urban footprint has been quantified considering the proportion of paved surface (built up, roads, etc.) with the reduction of other land uses. This communication discusses the urban footprint dynamics of Mumbai using multi-temporal remote sensing data with spatial metrics. Mumbai has a population density of 4583 persons per square kilometre (Census 2001). Mumbai urban agglomeration is ranked third after Tokyo and Mexico City. Urban dynamics was assessed using temporal remote sensing data of the period during 1973 to 2010. Vegetation declined from 53.63 % (1973) to 33.76 % (2009). There has been a net loss in vegetation up to 62.79% in the past four decades.

Over the past four decades, urbanization has significantly modified the land use of Mumbai city and its outskirts. The built-up area has significantly increased by 155%, at the expense of non-forest land in the study region which includes Mumbai metropolitan area with 10 km buffer. Urban sprawl is seen toward the southwest and northeast sectors of the metropolitan area.

The landscape metrics clearly brought out the facts of the process of urbanisation and the urban sprawl in the study region. Comparative analysis of change in built-up patch density in relation to the spread pattern indicates that all zones have relatively contributed to the development of urban area at different stages of urbanization. This analysis also reveals the infilling effects of urban development as spreading away from the urban core. Core areas of Mumbai (Andheri, etc.) have intensified growth and has reached the saturation. Regions such as Kandivali, Thane, Navi Mumbai, etc. are experiencing the sprawl and needs the attention of regional urban decision makers. The spatial indices provide information on urban land conversion which help the urban planners and city development authority as a hands on tool to understand the process and for further developmental planning. The regions undergoing sprawl needs immediate attention by the local decision makers to provision basic amenities and infrastructure apart from maintaining the local environment.