Impact of Urbanization on Land Use and Land Cover in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, India: A Geospatial Assessment

Urban growth in rapidly developing Indian cities has profound implications for environmental sustainability and resource management. This study examines the impact of urbanization on land use and land cover (LULC) in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, Maharashtra, from 1990 to 2020 using multi-temporal satellite imagery and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. Landsat datasets were classified through a supervised Maximum Likelihood algorithm, and classification reliability was evaluated through overall accuracy (89-92%) and Kappa statistics, ensuring robust mapping of LULC categories. Six major classes i.e. built-up area, vegetation, agriculture, fallow land, waterbodies, and barren land were delineated and compared using post-classification change detection. Results reveal a dramatic expansion of built-up land, rising from 9.76% in 1990 to 35.42% in 2020, reflecting intense residential, commercial, and industrial development. Vegetation declined from 38.26% to 31.42%, while agricultural land shrank to 3.67%, indicating a progressive conversion of green and agrarian landscapes into urban fabric. Fallow land showed minor fluctuations (6.17-4.68%), and barren land decreased substantially from 41.87% to 24.01%, suggesting reuse of previously unproductive areas. Waterbodies remained a small but stable fraction (~0.75-0.78%), underscoring their vulnerability amidst urban sprawl. The findings highlight the need to integrate hill-slope protection, riparian buffer conservation, and urban greening into planning policies to balance growth with ecological sustainability in the Pune Metropolitan Region. This geospatial assessment provides a scientific basis for policymakers and planners to balance development with environmental resilience in fast-growing metropolitan regions.