Built-up Analysis of the Hill Town of Nainital

Abstract

Recently, urbanization has become a major cause of environmental change around the world, especially in mountain areas. This is especially true in developing countries, where urban growth has been rapid but largely haphazard, unplanned, and unregulated. This research looks at how a tourist hub in Uttarakhand's central mountain range has been affected by the fast urbanization that has resulted from technological advancements (India). Comparing Google Earth from 2006 to 2019, this study examined changes in land use/cover for the built-up area. As a foundation map for determining land utilization and cover, images from different periods are used. The result indicates that during 14 years there is a substantial increase in the built-up area of the Nainital by around 68% (i.e., 1.89sq. km).In contrast, sprawling urban growth in the fragile mountains has disrupted critical ecosystem services while also creating employment, a wide range of socioeconomic services, and expanded infrastructure, all of which contribute to the development of their vast hinterlands via the trickle-down effect.