Publication

Abstract : Development of civilization has a coinciding, convergent and matching relation with urbanization and city development. The development of a city can be looked upon from different points of view and could be analyzed from different perspectives. Geographical Information System (GIS) is one effective tool for studying urban sprawl. Urban sprawl in the state of Kerala is extending in a fast pace, exerting pressure on most of the natural ecosystems of the state. During the last couple of decades the state has experienced drastic urban growth due to several factors, of which socio economic changes are one of the foremost. We examined the temporal variation in urban wetlands located in Palakkad city (South India), using Topographic sheets and imageries of two different time periods (falling within 1974 to 2008) using ArcGIS 9.3. It was found that the individual wetlands diminishing in area as time progress. Apparently the loss of the wetlands is highly correlated with the growth of the city.