Study Area

Chennai, previously known as “Madras” is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamilnadu and the fourth metropolitan area in India (Dowall and Monkkonen, 2007). It lies at 120 9' to130 9' N and 800 12' to 800 19' E at the eastern coast and southern peak of India. The average elevation of the city is about 8 m above the mean sea level. The average temperature ranges from 380 to 420 C in summer and 180 to 200C in winter. As per the 1971 census, Chennai’s population was 0.3 million, which has increased to more than 8 million (as per census 2011). The population density has increased steadily from 769 persons per sq.km to 1041 (1981), 1315 (1991), 1558 (2001) and 2109 (2011) persons per sq.km. Chennai is one of the more industrialised and economically developed cities in India. Major industries include automobile, software, textiles, and post the 1900s, information technology. Urban growth patterns have been assessed considering the administrative boundary of Chennai with a10 km buffer (Figure 1) to account for dispersed growth in peri-urban areas.

Figure 1:  Study area - Chennai administrative boundary and a 10 km buffer