Application of GIS, RS and GPS for Urban Growth Analysis

Urban growth is a worldwide phenomenon. It takes place rapidly and consists in occupying the adjacent land of an urban area and changing in land use pattern, demographic features and transforming the economic activities of the people. Over the years, Ethiopian cities have experienced tremendous expansion, which raises a great concern for urban planners. The present study used Geographical Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies to identify the nature of physical expansion in Debre Markos town during 1984 – 2012. As per the study, built-up area has grown from 6.78 to 10.93 sq.kms during 1984-2004, and from 10.93 to 12.76 sq.kms between 2004 and 2012. There is an increment of 44.04% in boundary from 1984 to 2012. The city has encroached lots of precious agricultural and forest land areas during the study period. In order to monitor the physical growth of the towns, the researcher recommended the need to introduction of modern technologies like GIS, RS, GPS and use of proper management techniques by urban planning authorities.