Dynamics of Mountain Urbanisation: Evidence from the Trans-Himalayan Town of Kargil, Ladakh, India

Altaf Hussain, Susanne Schmidt () and Marcus Nüsser
Additional contact information
Altaf Hussain: Department of Geography, South Asia Institute (SAI), Heidelberg University, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
Susanne Schmidt: Department of Geography, South Asia Institute (SAI), Heidelberg University, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
Marcus Nüsser: Department of Geography, South Asia Institute (SAI), Heidelberg University, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: Small and medium-sized towns in the high mountain regions of South Asia are characterised by rapid and mostly unplanned urbanisation processes, regularly resulting in an increased risk of urban agglomerations being exposed to natural hazards. After the administrative capital of Leh, Kargil town is the second-largest urban centre in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh. This article discusses the development and dynamics of the Trans-Himalayan town in terms of its historical development, expansion and population; land use and land cover (LULC) change; and the specific role of tourism. Based on a multi-temporal approach using high-resolution satellite images, statistical data and field surveys, the urban landscape dynamics of Kargil town are analysed. The total population of this town increased almost tenfold from 1681 in 1961 to 16,338 in 2011, which resulted in an increase in the urban population from 3.7% to 11.6%, while the population of the entire Kargil district only tripled from 45,064 to 140,802 over the same period. Migration from rural villages to Kargil town has been a major cause for the construction and growth of new residential colonies and settlements. The built-up area increased more than ninefold from 0.25 km 2 (1.3%) to 2.30 km 2 (11.7%) between 1965 and 2020. During the same period, irrigated land and hygrophilous vegetation increased considerably from 4.51 km 2 (23.0%) to 8.56 km 2 (43.6%) due to the construction of new water channels. Similarly, the barren area decreased significantly from 14.88 km 2 (75.8%) to 8.78 km 2 (44.7%) between 1965 and 2020. Moreover, the massive increase in tourist arrivals has led to the construction of more hotels, guesthouses and travel agencies. These key factors play a significant role in the emergence, growth and development of this high-mountain town.

Keywords: Kargil town; historical development; urban expansion; mountain population; land use and land cover (LULC) change; residential colonies; tourism; Ladakh; Trans-Himalaya (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/4/920/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/4/920/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:4:p:920-:d:1128026

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().