Assessment of urbanization impacts on vegetation cover in major cities of Pakistan: evidence from remotely sensed data

Increasing urbanization has affected vegetation cover (VC) in various regions worldwide. However, barely any attention has been paid to Pakistan, which is facing rapid urbanization. The study utilized MODIS Land Cover (MDC12Q1, 500 m resolution) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (MOD13A3, 1000 m resolution) data to examine urbanization trends and their effects on vegetation cover in Pakistan from 2005 to 2019. The difference between urban EVI and rural EVI (ΔEVI) was used as a representation of the impact of urbanization on VC in Pakistan. Results revealed an increment of 4.27% in the average urban area of the nine (9) cities from 2005 (321.19 km²) to 2019 (334.91 km²). Pakistan’s annual ΔEVI was negative (− 0.05695), suggesting that the urban EVI is lower than the rural EVI. However, the ΔEVI in six (6) cities decreased significantly (p < 0.05) from 2005 to 2019. The average annual effect of the urbanization area on the VC was 461.5 km² for Pakistan. The seasonal spatial distribution and trends are nearly stable. These results indicated that the impacts of urbanization on VC should be considered sustainable development in Pakistan, which could also be evident in other developing countries.