Monitoring of Urban Landscape Ecology Dynamics of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Pakistan, Over Four Decades (1976–2016)

Hammad Gilani, Sohail Ahmad, Waqas Ahmed Qazi, Syed Muhammad Abubakar and Murtaza Khalid
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Hammad Gilani: Geospatial Research & Education Lab (GREL), Department of Space Science, Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Sohail Ahmad: Geospatial Research & Education Lab (GREL), Department of Space Science, Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Waqas Ahmed Qazi: Geospatial Research & Education Lab (GREL), Department of Space Science, Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Syed Muhammad Abubakar: Freelance Journalist, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Murtaza Khalid: Geospatial Research & Education Lab (GREL), Department of Space Science, Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 4, 1-23

Abstract: In the late 1960s, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s capital shifted from Karachi to Islamabad, officially named Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). In this aspect, the ICT is a young city, but undergoing rapid expansion and urbanization, especially in the last two decades. This study reports the measurement and characterization of ICT land cover change dynamics using Landsat satellite imagery for the years 1976, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2016. Annual rate of change, landscape metrics, and urban forest fragmentation spatiotemporal analyses have been carried out, along with the calculation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 11.3.1 Land Consumption Rate to the Population Growth Rate (LCRPGR). The results show consistent increase in the settlement class, with highest annual rate of 8.79% during 2000–2010. Tree cover >40% and <40% canopy decreased at an annual rate of 0.81% and 0.77% between 1976 to 2016, respectively. Forest fragmentation analysis reveals that ‘core forests of >500 acres’ class decreased from 392 km 2 (65.41%) to 241 km 2 (55%), and ‘patch forest’ class increased from 15 km 2 (2.46%) to 20 km 2 (4.54%), from 1976 to 2016. The LCRPGR ratio was 0.62 from 1976 to 2000, increasing to 1.36 from 2000 to 2016.

Keywords: forest fragmentation; sustainable development goal (SDG); land consumption rate to the population growth rate (LCRPGR) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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