Analysis of urban growth using multi-temporal satellite data in Istanbul, Turkey

Uncontrolled population growth, especially in developing countries, causes serious problems, such as scarcity of food, informal settlements, environmental pollution, destruction of ecological structure, unemployment, etc. This phenomenon will require advanced methodologies, such as space technologies, to enable city planners, economists, environmentalists, ecologists and resource managers to solve these problems. In Turkey, as a result of the undesired population growth, new settlements are continuously appearing and adverse developments and changes are occurring in the presently populated areas. In Turkey's major cities, such as in Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, Adana, Bursa and Antalya, which have seen mass migrations of people, considerable urban developments and changes have occurred. Consequently, the mostly negative impacts of uncontrolled population growth on the urban environment must be monitored continuously. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of urban growth on land-use changes, especially the agricultural land in the district of Büyükçekmece in suburban Istanbul. The study is based on the 1984-1997 population database, multi-temporal satellite data and remote sensing methods. The study revealed significant loss of agricultural and natural land areas to urban developments throughout the period 1984-1998.