Effects of Changing Urban Environment of Madurai-Challenges and Opportunities for Future Environmental Sustainability

Urban development is the major cause for changes in environment, as it leads to increase in population density which thereby increases the households, industries and transportation. Thus, urban centres are the major contributors of greenhouse gases and global warming. This paper collates the evidence of climate change effects on areas of urban growth pattern, temperature variations over the past decades and changes in the air quality of Madurai. It is evident from various studies that built up areas in urban centres exert a considerable influence on the local climate and urban heat island intensity. This main aim of this paper is to give information to urban planners, architects and engineers about the importance of climate studies and tools to promote strategies and measures of sustainable urban development.