Spatial and Temporal Analyses of Urbanization of Mardan City, its Causes and Impacts on Environment

Abstract

Urbanization is an emerging problem causing many environmental issues especially in developing world. In this study we analysed the Mardan city temporal and spatial urban expansion, using satellite images of the year 2001, 2008 and 2014. We found a drastic increase in the built up area having adverse impacts on agriculture land production, vegetation loss and local biodiversity just in 14 years. Our results showed that Mardan expanded on the most fertile and agriculturally available land, causing agricultural and biological decline as well as a negative impact on water quality. The identified reasons were the strong efforts and political well of Awami National Party government in the region who brought mega projects to this area such as institutions of higher and professional education, Campuses of Agriculture and Engineering Universities, Intermediate and Secondary Education Board, Sports Complex and new roads. All these institutional developments triggered a new start of many residential societies both legal and illegal. With this new era of commercialization and increase in shopping centers, new businesses and market chains were launched. Pak Army having Punjab Regiment Center in the heart of Mardan, started buildings and commercial plazas as well, and played very active role in expanding the City. These were the driving forces behind the rapid expansion of the city in a very short time. We recommend that Local Government needs to address the problem of haphazard urban growth, which needs proper planning and policy for future land use and cover change. The local government must identify the sites suitable for housing keeping in view all the rules and regulations with strict EIA implementation. Illegal residential societies must be banned and the Government must take serious action for land conservation. Provide basic needs to local rural population will decrease migration to urban areas.

Keywords

• Land use change
• Urbanization
• Vegetation and Biodiversity loss
• Mardan City
• Pakistan

References

1. Alig, R. J., Kline, J. D. & Lichtenstein, M. 2004. Urbanization on the US landscape: looking ahead in the 21st century. Landscape and urban planning, 69, 219-234.
2. Browder, J.O., 2002. The urban-rural interface: Urbanization and tropical forest cover change. Urban Ecosystems, 6(1), pp.21-41.
3. Butt, A., Shabbir, R., Ahmad, S.S., and Aziz, N., 2015.Land use change mapping and analysis using Remote Sensing and GIS: A case study of Simly watershed, Islamabad, Pakistan, Egypt. J. Remote Sens. Space Sci. (18) pp. 251–259.
4. Chandra, A., and E. Thompson. 2000. Does public infrastructure affect economic activity? Evidence from the rural interstate highway system. Regional Science and Urban Economics 30(4): 457-90.
5. Chhetri, A. And Lama, M.S., Trends Of Urbanization And Its Impacts On Environmental Resources: A Case Study Of Gangtok Town Of Sikkim Himalayas. Geo-Analyst, ISSN 2249-2909 2014
6. Cohen, B., 2006. Urbanization in developing countries: Current trends, future projections, and key challenges for sustainability. Technology in society, 28(1), pp.63-80.
7. Ehlers, M., Jadkowski, M. A., Howard, R. R., and Brostuen, D. E., 1990. Application ofSPOT data for regional growth analysis and local planning. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 56, 175–180.
8. Fazal, S., 2000. Urban expansion and loss of agricultural land-a GIS based study of Saharanpur City, India. Environment and Urbanization, 12, 133-149.

9. Fei Yuan, 2007. Urban Expansion and Its Environmental Impact Analysis Using High Resolution Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study In The Greater Mankato Area. ASPRS 2007 Annual Conference Tampa, Florida.
10. Fonji, S. F., and Taff, G. N., (2014).Using satellite data to monitor land-use land-cover change in North-eastern Latvia. Springer Plus, pp. 3-61.
11. Glaeser, E. and Henderson, J.V., 2017. Urban economics for the developing World: An introduction. Journal of Urban Economics, 98, pp.1-5.
12. Glaeser, E.L., 2014. A world of cities: The causes and consequences of urbanization in poorer countries. Journal of the European Economic Association, 12(5), pp.1154-1199.
13. Harris, P. M., and Ventura, S. J., 1995, The integration of geographic data with remotely sensed imagery to improve classification in an urban area. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 61, 993–998.
14. Jensen, J. R., (2005). Introductory digital image processing: A remote sensing perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
15. Jiang, L. and O’Neill, B.C., 2017. Global urbanization projections for the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. Global Environmental Change, 42, pp.193-199.
16. Jiang, L., Deng, X. and Seto, K.C., 2013. The impact of urban expansion on agricultural land use intensity in China. Land Use Policy, 35, pp.33-39.
17. Kucukmehmetoglu, M. and Geymen, A., 2007.Measuring the spatial impacts of urbanization on the surfacewater resource basins in Istanbul via remote sensing.
18. Leonardo, P., Franceisco, G., Jose, A., Sobrino, Juan, C., Jimenez, M. and Haydee, K., (2006). Radiometric correction effects in landsat multi-date/multisensor change detection studies, International Journal of Remote Sensing, (2), pp. 685-704.
19. Lillesand, T., Kiefer, R., and Chipman, J., (2004).Remote Sensing and ImageInterpretation, 5th Ed. John Wiley and Son Publishers.
20. Mahmood, R., Pielke, R.A., Hubbard, K.G., Niyogi, D., Dirmeyer, P.A., McAlpine, C., Carleton, A.M., Hale, R., Gameda, S., Beltrán‐Przekurat, A. and Baker, B., 2014.Land coverchanges and their biogeophysical effects on climate. International Journal of Climatology, 34(4), pp.929-953.
21. Malik, R., and Ali, M., 2015, The Impact of Urbanization on Agriculture Sector: A Case Study of Peshawar, Pakistan, Journal of Resources Development and Management, An International Peer-reviewed Journal,Vol.8.
22. Mather, A. S., 1986, Land Use (London: Longman).
23. Pandey, B. and Seto, K.C., 2015. Urbanization and agricultural land loss in India: Comparing satellite estimates with census data. Journal of environmental management, 148, pp.53-66.
24. Qasim, M., Hubacek, K., Termansen, M. & Khan, A. 2011. Spatial and temporal dynamics of land use pattern in district swat, hindu kush himalayan region of pakistan. Applied geography, 31, 820-828.
25. Rahim,T., Zeb, A ., and Shaukat, S. 2007.Urbanization in North West Frontier Province. Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 23, No. 1, 2007.
26. Rimal, B., Baral, H., Stork, N.E., Paudyal, K. and Rijal, S., 2015. Growing city and rapid land use transition: assessing multiple hazards and risks in the Pokhara Valley, Nepal. Land, 4(4), pp.957-978.
27. Rawat, J.S., Kumar, M., 2015. Monitoring land use/cover change using remote sensing and GIS techniques: a case study ofHawalbagh block, district Almora, Uttarakhand, India. Egypt. J.Remote Sens. Space Sci. 18 (1), 77–84,
28. Rephann, T., and Isserman.A., 1994. New highways as economic development tools: an evaluation using quasi-experimental matching methods. Reg. Sci. Urban. Econ., 24: 723–751.
29. Shalaby, A., and Tateishi, R., (2007). Remote sensing and GIS for mapping and monitoring land cover and land-use changes in the North western coastal zone of Egypt. Applied Geography, (27), pp. 28–41.
30. Sharpe DM,Stearns F,Leitner LA,Dorney JR.1986.Fate of natural vegetation during urban development of rural landscapes in southeastern Wisconsin. Urban Ecology 9:267–287.
31. Shen, L., Shuai, C., Jiao, L., Tan, Y. and Song, X., 2017.Dynamic sustainability performance during urbanization process between BRICS countries. Habitat International, 60, pp.19-33.
32. Shirazi, S.A. and Kazmi, S.J.H., 2013.Appraisal of the Change in Spatial-Temporal Patterns of Land use/cover and its Impacts on the Vegetation of Lahore, Pakistan. Pakistan Vision, 14(1), p.25.
33. Sudhira, H.S., Ramachandra, T.V. and Jagadish, K.S., 2004. Urban sprawl: metrics, dynamics and modelling using GIS. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 5(1), pp.29-39.
34. Thorner, D., Kerplay, B. and Smith, R.E.F. (eds.) (1986) A. V. Chayanov on the Theory of Peasant Economy.University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.
35. Weng, Q. 2001. A remote sensing.GIS evaluation of urban expansion and its impact on surface temperature in the Zhujiang Delta, China.International journal of remote sensing, 22, 1999-2014.
36. Wheeler, A.P., Angermeier, P.L. and Rosenberger, A.E., 2005. Impacts of new highways and subsequent landscape urbanization on stream habitat and biota. Reviews in fisheries science, 13(3), pp.141-164.
37. Wolman, M.G. and Fournier, F.G.A., 1987. Introduction to land transformation in agriculture. Land transformation in agriculture/edited by MG Wolman and FGA Fournier. .Xiao, J., Shen, Y., Ge, J., Tateishi, R., Tang, C., Liang, Y. and Huang, Z., 2006. Evaluating urban expansion and land use change in Shijiazhuang, China, by using GIS and remote sensing. Landscape and urban planning, 75(1), pp.69-80.