Analysis of urban development of Haridwar, India, using entropy approach

Abstract

Urban development is a complex process, which should be observed at various levels and in many aspects for full understanding. The pervasive problems generated by urban development have prompted, in the present work, to study the spatial extent of urbanization in Haridwar, India, and patterns of periodic changes in urban development (systematic/random) in order to develop future plans for (i) urbanization promotion areas, and (ii) urbanization control areas. Remote Sensing, using Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite data, was used to map the spatial extent of urbanization for the 1989, 1998, 2000 and 2002 years. Geographical Information System (GIS) and Entropy approach, which makes use of mathematical notions related to thermodynamics and is the disorder of organization or randomness of organization of a system, were used to study the pattern of urban development (systematic or random) in Haridwar, India during 1989–2002. The distributed entropy and relative mean entropy values were evaluated considering two location factors: (i) urban development at peripheries of 1000 m each from the centre of the city (Har Ki Pauri), (ii) urban development at peripheries of 1000 m each from the highway along the upper Ganga canal. The results obtained indicate significant periodic urban development in Haridwar during 1989–2002, specifically after the 1998 year. However, urban developments were found to be random in nature, as the distributed relative entropy values formed a zig-zag pattern for the location factor from the centre of the town. The application of entropy is found to be a better alternative to conventional technique.