Framework for Multiscenario Simulation of Land Use for Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) released in 2015 by the United Nations set 17 goals and 169 targets for global sustainable development. These goals and targets are set as a benchmark to make the world a better living place. This study has selected six major factors derived from the interaction of selected indicators, which will play a major role in the creation of four different scenarios. The scenarios—namely, reference, economic development, social progression, and environmental protection—are generally dependent on the selected index variables and SDG indicators. The six factors, which are very prominent in creation of four different types of scenarios complementing SDGs, are GDP factor, pollution control factor, air quality factor, medical factor, education factor, and infrastructure factor. These factors and SDG indicators will quantify the land needed for each land use complementing the SDGs. This study finds different land-use areas in each land-use for different scenarios. The study classifies four different land uses, that is, Built up, Others, Vegetation and Water Body, for the entire study area. In an economic development scenario, the built up land-use class has 31.1 km2 more area than the reference scenario for predicted land use for 2031. In a social progress scenario, the built up land-use class has 10.86 km2 more area than the reference scenario for predicted land use for year 2031. In the environmental protection scenario, the built up class has 86.9 km2 less area than the reference scenario for predicted land use for the year 2031.