Falling Population Growth and Subsequent Land Use Pattern: A Study of Kolkata

Abstract

The Indian metropolitan areas have a variety of form and pattern of urban development. This study attempts to explore the population and land use changes in the Kolkata city with the integration of census data with satellite images for 1991, 2001 and 2011 time periods. The expansion of built-up land has taken place mainly at the cost of a reduction in the forest and open spaces in the city. Although there is a decline in the population growth rate, the built-up land has increased at a rate of 31%. The movement of people and the expansion of built-up land towards the peri-urban areas need to be considered into the planning framework of the city.