Spatial Dimensions of Urban Growth and Land Use Changes in a Small City of Bahawalpur District, Pakistan

Abstract

Studying the relationship between urban growth and land use changes is of considerable importance. Urban growth of small and big cities is largely dependent upon conversion and transformation of land use. Determining the impacts of land use changes on urban growth is also affected by population growth and distribution. The current research is also focused on the analyzing the process of urban growth of a small city present on the western side of Bahawalpur district named "Uch Sharif". Before 1980, it was included in one of the urbanizing town of the Pakistan which gained the status of small city due to increased urban population and land use development after 1981. The major objective of the current research is to analyze the spatial and temporal dimensions of urban and population growth of the city from 1973 to 2016. Study is based on land use maps of the city prepared in GIS environment to determine the residential and urban growth of the city. At the end rate of urban expansion and population growth rate concludes the urban expansion of the city is taking place in different directions verifying urbanization of this small city. Such studies are very useful to get appropriate knowledge of land use growth and its associated factors for future urban planning.