Abstract

Rapid urbanization has been associated with the alteration of landscape structure, local ecology and environment affecting the sustenance of natural resources.Urbanisation in India is drastically changing the land cover and often resulting in the sprawl. The sprawl regions 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 visualize the likely sprawl pockets to provide basic amenities.The rate of change of land use andextent of urban sprawl can effectively be visualized and modeled with the help of geo-informatics. 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. This communication quantifies the urbanisation and associated growth pattern in Delhi, Capital of India.  Spatial dataof four decades were analysed to understand land cover dynamics. Further the region was divided into 4 zones and into circles of 1km 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.

Keywords: Urbanization, Urban sprawl, Delhi,Remote sensing, Shannon Entropy, Spatial metrics.