Study area considered for the analysis are Tier I cities as shown in Fig. 1. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India with hub of economic activities (GDP of 12.1 trillion) and the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and (bounded by Arabian Sea towards the west). Mumbai has maximum population density of 4893 persons per square metre with the population crossing 12 million (2011 population census) and. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) was setup on 1975 under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority Act, which is responsible for the planning and development activities in the Mumbai region. With the formation of Greater Mumbai, Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is the town planning authority for Mumbai.

Fig. 1. Major cities considered for understanding urbanisation process and visualisation of urban growth are (i) Mumbai, (ii) Delhi, (iii) Chennai, (iv) Coimbatore and (v) Pune.

Delhi (FDI inflow: US$ 20.1 billion, GDP: 9.6 trillion rupees.) with more than 16.75 million inhabitants in the territory and with nearly 22.2 million residents in the National Capital Region urban area is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population. It borders the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh to the east and Haryana the north, west and south and is situated on the banks of the River Yamuna. Delhi lies about 300 m above the sea level. National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi is spread over an area of 1484 sq. km and the Delhi metropolitan area lies within NCT. The NCT has three local municipal corporations: Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi Cantonment Board.
Chennai, previously known as ‘‘Madras” is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamilnadu and the fourth metropolitan (GDP 3.8 trillion rupees) in India, with the population of 8 million (2011 population census) and population density of 2109 persons per sq.km. Chennai is the one among industrialised and economically developed cities in India. Major industries include automobile, software, textiles, and post the 1900’s, information technology. Greater Chennai Corporation is responsible for the development of city, and GDP of Chennai is 3.8 trillion rupees.
Coimbatore lies on the banks of the river Noyyal in the rain shadow region of the Western Ghats is the second largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, encompassing a total area of 246 sq. km. The rich black soil of the region has also contributed greatly the agricultural industry especially in the successful growth of cotton that has served as a foundation for the establishment of textile industries in this region and is popularly known as the Manchestera of South India (GDP: 3.2 billion rupees) due to the numerous textile mills and engineering industries built over the last 100 years. The population of Coimbatore is about 0.35 million (2011 population census). Coimbatore city is governed by Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC).
Pune (GDP: 2.7 trillion rupees), earlier known as Poona is the cultural capital of Maharashtra and is also known as ‘‘Queen of Deccan”. The Pune Municipal Corporation covers an area of 243.84 sq. km. Population during 1901 to 2011 shows an increase 347% and the current population is 9 million (Census 2011). Pune Municipal Corporation with forty-eight wards is the civic body that is responsible administration and infrastructure development of the city and it is known as the Pune Mahanagar Palika (PMP).