Jayalakshmy S.S¹, Dr T.K Prasad², Mereena C.S^3,

Urbanization is integrally connected to three pillars of sustainable development, economic development, social development and environment protection. Haphazard urban expansion leads to rapid sprawl, pollution and environmental degradation together with unsustainable production and consumption pattern. A comprehensive assessment and proper methodology are inevitable for urban planning. This study is to identify spatiotemporal trends of urban expansion and intensity in two Metropolitan cities: Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin city region (Kerala), To measure the magnitude and pace of urban growth and Urban proportional Index (UPI)and Urban Intensity Index (UII) were developed. GIS based buffer analysis was adopted in this study. Each buffer zone was employed as a basic spatial unit to characterize distance dependent urban growth behaviour with their UPI and UII values for a given time period. The results indicates that two distinct phases of urbanization are discernible in these. The trends in Urban behaviour of Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin are to be given grave concern and study being the administrative as well as commercial capital of Kerala state respectively.

spatial aeolotropy, sustainable development, sprawl, spatiotemporal, urban proportional index, urban intensity index