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

Abstract

Urban footprint refers to the proportion of paved surface (built up, roads, etc.) with the reduction of other land use types in a region. Cities and towns have been experiencing considerable growth in urban area, population size, social aspects, negative environmental and geographical influence, and complexity. This communication discusses the urban footprint dynamics of Mumbai using multi-temporal remote sensing data with spatial metrics. Land use analysis indicated a decrease of vegetation by 20% with an increase in urban extent by 155% during the last three decades. Landscape metrics aided in assessing the spatial structure and composition of the urban footprints through the zonal analysis by dividing the region into four zones with concentric circles of 1 km incrementing radius from the city centre. The study reveals a significant variation in the composition of the urban patch dynamics with increasing complexity and aggregation of urban area at the centre and sprawl at the outskirts.