Assessing land use land cover changes in Langkawi island: towards sustainable urban living
Simulating future urban growth might be useful in predicting the future urban fabric and its impact on the society, space and environment. This approach, however, needs to be undertaken with care such that it requires fundamental understanding of past and present situation. At present, urban ar...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Environmental Management Society, Malaysia
2010
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2343/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2343/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2343/1/Article6_Narimah.pdf |
| Summary: | Simulating future urban growth might be useful in
predicting the future urban fabric and its impact on
the society, space and environment. This approach,
however, needs to be undertaken with care such that it
requires fundamental understanding of past and present
situation. At present, urban area in developing nation is
experiencing rapid urbanization and undergoing physical
transformation, since majority of its population lives in
urban area. It is therefore, essential that urban planners
and managers understand the past and present land use
land cover changes in order to predict its impacts on the
society, economy and environment of the cities. This study
aims to explore and assess land use land cover changes
in Langkawi Island, Malaysia which has experienced
significant increase of population during the last decade
mainly due to the growth in tourism sector. The study
monitored land use land cover changes since 1974 in
order to assess the development of tourism activities and
its impact on physical transformation of the island. Urban
built-up area was controlled and directed towards existing
built-up zone. However, annual urban expansion intensity
index revealed that high speed of land use land cover
transformation also occurred sporadically throughout the
island especially after 1992 which might cause negative
impact to the community |
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