Urban green areas are crucial for the wellbeing of the residents in any city. Expansion of urban areas and the conversion of lands into built-up surfaces are one of the major implications on land use land cover (LULC) of the city space including reduction of green space. Demand for more space and resources in urban areas is driven by the increasing population for multiple factors including economic reasons. Any planning and management of urban development requires a detailed analysis of LULC change and its impacts on the overall ecosystem of the region. This paper examines the changes in spatial-temporal patterns of LULC at granular geographic level (municipal sector/ward) in selected cities of India using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Three major cities were chosen, NOIDA, Pune and Bengaluru, based on their rapid urban expansion in recent time. LULC classification of three years over two decades (2001, 2010 and 2022) are executed using maximum likelihood technique to obtain 6 distinct classes – Water, vegetation, Urban, agriculture, fallow land and open green. One of the major findings is that the built-up area of the selected metropolitan cities has increased to a great extent during the last couple of decades, but not impacting other LULC characteristics in similar fashion. Contrary to the general perception, NOIDA shows an increase of vegetative area during 2001 to 2022, which are much higher compared to Bengaluru and Pune. The results suggest that the urbanization process in Bengaluru is at an alarming condition as built up spaces gradually sweeping out the vegetation, agriculture and other land use classes. This paper also constructed a livability index across granular geographies of Municipal sectors/wards. The research findings can be a useful as a decision-making tool for policymakers and urban planners with respect to the proposed city development plan to implement the sustainable development goal and manage the future land demand. Please click the link below to access the paper
Changing Land Use and Land Cover in Urban Space in India: Case Study of NOIDA, Pune and Bengaluru
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