Sprawl Mapping And Land Use Change Analysis For Temporary Cities

Sprawl mapping and Land use change analysis for temporary cities;

The case of Kumbhmela, Allahabad, India.

Putatunda, Arunava

Mat. Nr. 2976489

ABSTRACT:

We can refer the term “Land Use”, to the management and utilization of land mass available in a region by mankind in a space time frame. Land use of a particular region describes the feature of the surface of the earth at that region and provides the detailed human or natural activity that is associated with that particular land mass of the given region. At the same time the term “Sprawl” describes the spreading of urban developments outside the boundary of the cities.

Big cities often face the problem of uncontrolled Urban Sprawl and Land use changes which affect the efficiency of the

Rivers are seen as extensions and partial manifestation of divine gods. According to Rigvedic (one of the four parts of Hindu religious manuscript of Veda) cosmology, the very possibility of life on earth is associated with the release of heavenly waters by Indra, the god of rain. Indra’s enemy Vrtra, the demon of chaos, withheld and hoarded the waters and inhibited creations. When Indra defeated Vrtra, the heavenly waters rushed to earth, and life sprung forth. According to Hindu Mythology, the Ganges River originates in the heavens. The Kumbh Mela, a great festival centered around the Ganges, is a celebration of creation.”(Vandana Shiva, 2002, p 131)

The religious gathering of Kumbh Mela is held after every 3 years in the cities of Allahabad, Hardwar, Ujjain and Nashik which are located on the bank of river Ganges and Yamuna, Ganges, Kshipra and Godavari respectively in rotation. Kumbh Mela is supposed to be the largest temporary human congregation on earth.

In 2013 the Kumbh Mela at Allahabad experienced a total footfall of around 100 million. The festival lasted for 55 days, whereas the 2001 Kumbh Mela at Allahabad lasted for 44 days and experienced a total footfall of around 70 million. Since past the size of the festival is increasing quite fast.

3.2 Aim and Objectives of the case

The fast growing Mela is gobbling up land from the existing land use of the city. The following maps show the different sectors within the boundary of the Mela area and how they are imposed over the existing land use of the city. As the Mela expands spatially and demographically, more and more existing infrastructures, built up areas, health care units, transportation nodes etc. are coming within the boundaries of the Mela. This is posing serious problems on the function of the existing infrastructures lying within the boundary of the Mela. The following two tables show the area of the different sectors of the Mela and the existing land use within the boundary of the