School of Planning and Architecture Vijayawada(SPAV), Planning

A Remote Sensing and GIS approach to Trace thedensification in Residential Areas: Case Study: Kalidas Road, Dehradun, India

Valliappan AL

School of Planning and Architecture Vijayawada(SPAV), Planning

Concept of densification

Densification is defined as “More usage of space both horizontal and vertically within existing plots/properties and new developments accompanied by increased number of dwelling units.Densification is contrast to the urban sprawl / green field developments and it supports the concepts like city compaction, defragmentation, infill developments, smart growth, intensification, brownfield and sustainable development strategies. It promotes redevelopment of existing residential areas rather than non-utilization of the existing infrastructural facilities.

Case study area,data and method

Thispaper presents a detailed case study of the Kalidas Road stretch of 2km road length and buffer distance of 500m on both sides of the road for two time periods (2000 and 2014), in terms of land use, typologies of housing, plots area, height, residential densities and types of re-densification. The panchromatic image (1m spatial resolution) and Multi spectral (4m resolution) IKNOS satellite images captured in the year 2000 were fused for better spatial and spectral resolution and Google earth imagery 2013 were vectorized to identify the different sizes of plots, built up area and for change detection/overlay operations.

Analysis, results and discussion

Overlay analysis had been undertaken in open source Geographic Information System(GIS) and Digital Image Processing software like ERDAS Imagine 2014 fordetection of changes in built-up residential land, parcels/lotsbetween the two time periodsusing high-resolution satellite imageries. Field investigation survey and ground truthing carried out for collection of information and verification. Attempted to capture and generate maps by utilizing spatial and attribute query tool to identify changes in vacant plot/infill development, addition and extension of built up area vertically and horizontally, amalgamation and sub-division of plots.Comparison of housing scenario in terms of housing characteristics like existing housing typologies, number of houses, maximum, minimum and average plot sizes, net and gross residential densities. The Mussorrie Dehradun Development Authority Master plan and Urban Development Policy Formulation Implementation Guidelines of Government of India were referred to identify the violation in buildings, plots and gaps in infrastructural facilities. Problems and issues like building and layout violation, design issues and infrastructural constraints were identified. The results of the study showed the changes in the plot area, potential vacant plots and the built up area available in plots for densification vertically and horizontally and three steps had been suggested for systematic identification of the potential residential areas for densification while undertakingpreparation process for city development plan.

References List:

Alagappan, V. Mishra, R.R. Meena, M.L and Baviskar, V.R.(2014). Impact of Re-densification on Infrastructure in Residential area-Case Study of Kalidas Road. NNRMS Course.Department of Urban and Regional Planning Studies. Indian Institute of Remote Sensing. Dehradun.

Gopal A and Shailaja Nair. (2014). An Approach for Analyzing Prospects of Urban Compaction in Indian Cities. Journal of Civil Engineering and Environmental Technology (1), 21–25.

Neuman, M. (2005). The Compact City Fallacy.Journal of Planning Education and Research, 25 (1), 11–26.

Ojala, A. (2012). Infilling Practices and Environmental Impacts on Domestic Gardens: Phase II.Helsinki Metropolitan Design Urban Research Program.Finland

Schmidt, T. Kaisa. Mohammad Haybatollahi,.Marketta Kyttä and Jari Korpi. (2013). The Prospects for Urban Densification: A Place-Based Study. Environmental Research Letters 8 (2): 025020.

South Africa Department of Housing. (2005). Compaction and Densification Strategy. Tshwane.

South Africa Department of Spatial Planning and Urban Design. (2009). Cape Town Densification Strategy Technical Report. Cape Town.

Stephan, Pauleit, Roland Ennos, and Yvonne Golding. (2005). Modeling the Environmental Impacts of Urban Land Use and Land Cover Change—a Study in Merseyside, UK. Landscape and Urban Planning 71 (2005), 295–310.

U.K. Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council.(2010). Doncaster Council Residential Backland and Infill Development: Supplementary Planning Document. Doncaster.

U.K. Edmonton Planning and Development. (2009). Residential Infill Overview. Vol. 5555. Edmonton.