Assessment of Rapid Urban Development Impact for a Small-Sized Transit City Using Remote Sensing: A Case Study of Salatiga, Indonesia

Abstract

Salatiga is the connecting city between Semarang City and Surakarta, which makes it one of the small-sized transit cities in Central Java. Its strategic location has led to various developments being carried out in Salatiga in the last ten years. This study aimed to assess the impact of the rapid development of Salatiga as a transit city. This study utilized remote sensing to analyze land cover changes and changes in land surface temperature (LST). The results showed that Salatiga experienced more significant growth in the built-up area than the population growth. The rapid development in Salatiga creates various new activities, such as trade and services and industries. This development changed the land cover and affected the land surface temperature in Salatiga. In the last ten years, Salatiga experienced an average temperature increase of 0.23°C. Mitigation efforts are needed to suppress environmental changes in the future.