Entropy Based Approach for Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Urban Growth Dynamics

Relative Entropy (RE) is defined as the measure of degree of randomness of any geographical variable (i.e., urban growth). It is an effective indicator to evaluate the patterns of urban growth either compact or dispersed. In the present study RE has been used for evaluating the urban growth of Dehradun city. Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand is situated in the foothills of Himalayas, has undergone rapid urbanization. Landsat, Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite data of years 2000, 2010 and 2019 has been used in the study. Built-up cover outside municipal limits and within municipal limits was classified for the given time period. Road network and city centre of the study area were also delineated using satellite data. RE was calculated for period 2000–2010 and 2010–2019 with respect to the road network and city centre. High values of RE indicate higher levels of urban sprawl whereas lower values indicate compactness. Urban growth pattern over a period of 19 years was examined with the help of RE.