Assessment of peri-urban interface of Lucknow region with special reference to land use change and environmental vulnerability

Rapid urbanization with parallel growth in economy has augmented considerable land use change across peri-urban interface (PUI) in the capital city of India's largest state, Uttar Pradesh. Due to this process, the city has expanded in size and structure, becoming increasingly more complex, heterogeneous and irregular in shape. This paper presents the spatio-temporal patterns of land use change and their impacts on the natural resources of Lucknow's PUI using multi-criteria decision making approach represented by the fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and GIS (Geographical Information Systems). Satellite pictures from past (1997 & 2002) and recent past (2010) are used for evaluating urban growth in terms of carrying capacity, land suitability and resource constraints. Land capability and urban suitability analysis is performed from a landscape perspective with suitability criteria and weighted factors using Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) method. The study indicates that natural land covers like forest and water bodies are experiencing major transition rendering some of them environmentally fragile. This process will continue with time if not checked through proper planning intervention. Such studies can help land authorities and planners in identifying ecologically fragile peri-urban areas for appropriate and timely management.