Assessing the Urban Environmental Quality: A Case Study of Kolkata Metropolitan Area, India

Abstract

Rapid unplanned urbanization is always associated with environmental degradation which plays a direct role in the quality of life. Poor environmental quality is linked to premature death, cancer, long-term damage to respiratory and cardiovascular systems, etc. Using a case study of the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA), the Urban Environmental Quality (UEQ) index has been constructed using a geoinformatics platform in the dimensions of the physical environment and built environment encompassing urban greenery, NO2, SO2, PM 2.5, PM 10, road induced pollution, land surface temperature, built-up area and noise followed by an exploration of its spatial pattern. KMA is the largest urban agglomeration in eastern India and the second-largest in India with a population of 13.2 million as per the 2001 census. Using the Urban Environmental Quality (UEQ) index, this study tried to find out the poor Environmental Quality area through multi-criteria analysis in KMA. Based on the relative importance of controlling the outdoor environment, criteria weights for nine parameters have been derived through the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The UEQ index was prepared by combining parameters rating and corresponding weight. Polycentric growth of urban centers leads to appropriate spatial matches to low environmental quality. Although the UEQ in the peripheries is being affected by suburbanization in a few instances, the majority of the areas have better environmental quality.