Measuring the spatial dynamics of urban sprawl in Jaipur City

The notion of urban sprawl involves multiple facets that demonstrate how the growth of urban area in cities interacts with other land uses. Sprawling cities undergo extensive transformation, leading to the expansion of their boundaries and the excessive resources utilization. In this context, the study examines the urban spraw dynamics in Jaipur city from 1991 to 2021 using remote sensing, GIS and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) techniques. Analysis of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes using multi-date satellite imagery reveals that the built-up area increased by157 percent, while vegetation and vacant land declined by -60.3 percent and -43.8 percent, respectively, indicating significant urbanization. It is also observed that the city’s average population density increased from 46 persons per hectare to 108 persons per hectare, reflecting the demand for urban space. The PCA was employed to understand the urban sprawl factors. The results yielded critical insights into the drivers of urbanization and the spatial distribution of urban development in the city. Strong positive associations were found between population, ward area, built-up area in association with spatial indices. Conversely, negative correlations were observed with density measures indicating compact urban development in the central wards. The finding also shows that first three principal components (98.310%, 97.832%, 97.772%, and 98.602% of the total variance) collectively play a crucial role in capturing the essential urban growth patterns needed to map the urban sprawl index over four decades. In all, urban sprawl analysis, in conjunction with the spatial maps, presents a robust framework for understanding urban sprawl dynamics and supports researchbased decision-making in urban planning and offers valuable insights into the factors shaping its growth over the years.