Assessment of urban sprawl using Shannon’s entropy and fractal analysis: a case study of Atakum, Ilkadim and Canik (Samsun, Turkey)

Abstract

Urban sprawl is one of the most important problems in urban development due to its negative environmental and societal impacts. Therefore, the spatial pattern of urban growth should be accurately analyzed and well understood for effective urban planning. This paper focuses on urban sprawl analysis in the Atakum, Ilkadim and Canik districts of Samsun, Turkey. In this study, urban sprawl was examined over a period of 24 years using Shannon's entropy and fractal analysis based on remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS). The built-up areas in 1989, 2000 and 2013 were extracted from Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI images using the maximum likelihood classification method, and urban form changes in the 1989–2013 period were investigated. The Shannon's entropy method was used to determine the degree of urban sprawl, and a fractal analysis method based on box counting was used to characterize the urban sprawl. The results show that Atakum, Ilkadim and Canik experienced important changes and have considerable sprawl and complex characteristics now. The study also revealed that there is no monotonic relationship between Shannon's entropy and fractal dimension.