Urban sprawl of Bhubaneswar city using GIS applications and entropy

Abstract

Urbanization is the index of the transformation of the rural areas to the developed new industries. The aim of the study is to find out the land cover change caused due to different activities in Bhubaneswar City and its surroundings. For this purpose, 3 digital images are used for the years 2000, 2005 and 2011. These images are analyzed using the data processing techniques in ILWIS-GIS 3.3. The main trajectories of land use change are based on nine types of land use data derived from the remotely sensed images. The buffer analysis is done to interpret urban growth. It carried out in linear way along the railway line and from the center of the city. Entropy approach was also used to find the degree of randomness in the sprawl pattern. The process was used to calculate the mean relative and distributed entropy in the both buffer types. The compaction or the dispersal pattern of the urban sprawl was represented satisfactorily. According to the results, a decrease of 66.6% in agricultural areas; an increase of 310% in the residential areas has been found. The growth of urban has been more prone in the left side of the railway line. This could be attributed to the rapid urbanization and better education facilities. Entropy approach shows that the urban development of Bhubaneswar city is going on unplanned manner and it is random in nature. The study is potentially useful for administrators and planner in Bhubaneswar and as case study, of value and interest to a broader community.