Urban dynamics and its impact on habitat and eco-environmental quality along urban-rural gradient in an urban agglomeration (India)

Abstract

The ecological environment in cities has posed a severe threat due to rapid unplanned and haphazard urbanization worldwide. Thus, an ecological assessment environment is essential for policy implications and sustainable management of urban ecosystems. This study aims to assess urban dynamics and their impact on the habitat and eco-environmental quality in English Bazar Urban Agglomeration (EBUA), Eastern India. A remote sensing-based habitat and eco-environmental quality index have been developed for 2001, 2011, and 2021. The habitat and eco-environmental quality have been assessed along urban-rural gradient (URG) using a multi-ring buffer approach. The spatial metrics were also used to assess the sensitivity and elasticity. The model has been validated (r2= 0.72 for habitat quality and r2= 0.65 for eco-environmental quality) based on the imperviousness extracted from Sentinel 2 data. The findings showed that (i) vegetation cover and water bodies decreased by 56.72 % and 67.99 %,(ii) habitat quality deteriorated by 39.30 % (iii) the areas with very high eco-environmental quality decreased from 37.20 % (2001) to 5.26 % (2021) (iv) the habitat and eco-environmental quality improved from the core towards the fringe and rural areas (v) the landscape pattern i.e. area mean (AREA_MN) and aggregation index (AI) of the built-up areas had negative impact on the habitat and eco-environmental quality. The study's findings provide a new perspective regarding the relationship between urban dynamics and habitat and eco-environmental quality for sustainable urban development.