Assessment of urban growth dynamics in eight Indian metropolitan cities using spatial metrics

ABSTRACT

Assessment of urban growth dynamics is crucial for studying urban areas. Urban regions are defined by their growth dynamics and trends. Spatial metrics can greatly benefit the analysis of these dynamics. The study focuses on eight Indian metropolitan cities and uses urban built-up layers extracted from Global Human Settlement Layer. Spatial metrics were applied to assess pattern, compactness, speed, and entropy of growth. The study employed a cutting-edge methodology to derive a detailed comparison of the growth dynamics, automated with Python and Google Earth Engine. Spatial metrics provide a comprehensive understanding of urban growth dynamics, as demonstrated in this study.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban growth
• spatial metrics
• built-up growth pattern
• built-up growth compactness
• built-up growth speed
• built-up growth entropy

Acknowledgments

The Ministry of Education, Government of India, has our sincere gratitude for the financial assistance offered through monthly fellowship. Gratitude is also owed to the Google Earth Engine (GEE) and Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) for providing built-up areas for several Indian metropolitan cities over different periods. We appreciate the insightful advice and comments offered by the reviewers and editors, which significantly enhanced the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).