Assessment of urban sprawl in Bathinda city, India

Abstract

Interaction between space and time is well documented in the study of urban sprawl, where expansion of urban margins becomes the outcome of changing functionality of space within the given time frame. While urban sprawl becomes inevitable phenomena, the paper seeks to identify the role of population growth and sectors of working population that contributed to the sprawl in Bathinda city, Punjab. In this regards, Reilly's law of retail gravitation is analyzed for spatial expansion of built up areas. Using remote sensing and GIS (Geographical Information System) as a platform for creating land use land cover changes from Landsat images reveals the change matrix for the different land use classification. Thus, readdressing urban sprawl as an outcome of increasing retail sector is an interesting finding that perhaps would further enhances knowledge in urban research.