Urban Land Use Dynamics

Mapping and quantifying urban land use and land cover (LULC) changes, along with identifying their driving factors, are essential for recognizing areas vulnerable to change and promoting sustainable ecosystem services. This study investigates LULC dynamics and their key drivers over the past decade, from 2015 to 2024, in the Rudrapur City of Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand, using a combination of remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) tools, and local community surveys to capture perceptions of LULC trends and causes. To analyze Landsat Images from 2015 to 2024 were collected and processed in QGIS 3.34.12, classified into four classes such as built-up, water, forest, and cropland areas. The findings show that the built-up area was the dominant land-use type and increased by 64.81% over the 10-year period. Water land dropped from 4.02% in 2015 to 2.13% in 2024, while forest cover and cropland cover declined from 82.65% to just 75.89%. Meanwhile, the built-up area grew from 13.33% to 21.97% in the same timeframe. The primary drivers of these LULC changes include rapid population growth, expansion of industrial infrastructure, and limited public awareness. To prevent further degradation of these already scarce natural resources and ensure their continued contribution to ecosystem sustainability, it is critical to address the root causes of land-use change and implement sustainable resource management strategies.