Nagaon, a city in Assam, has been growing fast. But this growth is not always organized or well-planned. Over the last 30 years, the way land is used in Nagaon has changed a lot. More buildings are going up, while green spaces are shrinking. This is a big deal because it affects how people live and how sustainable the city is.

Researchers looked at satellite images from 1993, 2003, 2013, and 2023 to study these changes. They found that the amount of built-up land increased by about 0. 32 square kilometers each year. At the same time, vegetation cover decreased by about 0. 47 square kilometers annually. This means that Nagaon is becoming more concrete and less green.

The growth is not even. It's happening more in the northern, northeastern, and western parts of the city. This kind of growth is called "edge expansion" and "leapfrog development. " It's like the city is spreading out in jumps and bounds, rather than growing in a steady, organized way.

To understand this better, researchers used something called the Gini coefficient and Shannon entropy model. These are like special tools that help measure how spread out or concentrated the city's growth is. The Gini coefficient decreased from 0. 71 to 0. 55, while the Shannon entropy value increased from 4. 70 to 5. 90. This shows that the city is becoming more spread out and less centralized.

The researchers also looked at other factors like edge density, patch density, and the largest shape index. These all increased, while the largest patch index decreased. This supports the idea that Nagaon is experiencing urban sprawl.

So, what does this all mean? It means that Nagaon is growing in a way that might not be sustainable. It's important for city planners to think about this and come up with ways to manage the growth better. This study gives them a new way to look at the problem and find solutions.

URBAN SPRAWL

Nagaon's Changing Face: What's Happening to Its Land?

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