Assessing the Impact of Transport Corridors on Peripheral Urbanization: A GIS-Based Study of Land Use/Land Cover Changes in Warangal, India

The transport corridors also play a huge role in the peripheral urbanization of the developing cities, forming unique linear development zones as opposed to those that are not affected by the corridors. The paper uses spatial analysis of GIS and multi-temporal satellite imagery (2000-2020) to measure the connection between the proximity of transport corridors and land use/ land cover (LULC) changes in Warangal, India. The research uses the intensity of urban development in 0-2km, 2-5km, and above 5km distances around transport corridors like the National Highway 44, state highways, and regional roads using the buffer zone analysis. The findings indicate that the rate of development exponentially increases with the closeness of the corridor: urban built-up area is 72 percent in 0-2km of NH-44 and only 12 percent in the non-corridor. Accessibility index, however, is positively related to infrastructure development and population concentration (r=0.92, p