%0 Journal Article %1 Conrad201529 %A Conrad, C. %A Rudloff, M. %A Abdullaev, I. %A Thiel, M. %A Löw, F. %A Lamers, J.P.A. %D 2015 %J Applied Geography %K article Thiel LSFE %N 0 %P 29 - 43 %R http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2015.03.017 %T Measuring rural settlement expansion in Uzbekistan using remote sensing to support spatial planning %U http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0143622815000831 %V 62 %X Abstract Population growth demands sustainable spatial planning strategies for settlements in Uzbekistan, Central Asia, especially in rural areas that are inhabited by approximately 64 percent of the country's population. Where can settlements expand in rural Uzbekistan and does settlement growth affect valuable agricultural land? SPOT-5 data with a resolution of 2.5 m was utilized for mapping building layers and assessing settlement growth between 2006 and 2011 at the example of 53 communities located in the Khorezm province in North-West Uzbekistan. Object based image analysis was conducted, i.e. a multi-scale segmentation for the derivation of building contours, followed by a random forest (RF) classification of the object's spectral and spatial characteristics. A geographical information system (GIS) was used for identifying settlement densification and expansion processes, and for quantifying agricultural land parcels of different soil quality occupied during settlement growth. A calibration routine based on indices of segmentation quality enabled the selection of optimal segmentation parameters. After GIS-based refinements of the \RF\ classification results, the overall accuracy (OA) of the building layers of both years exceeded 95%. The ØA\ of the change map was 92.7%. The results revealed that the building area increased by 20%, whilst settlement expansion amounted to 10% in 2006–2011. Settlements widely expanded in accordance with the existing rules prohibiting the conversion of agricultural land to housing areas. Nevertheless, about 20% of the settlement growth occurred on agricultural production areas, also on those with highly productive soils. The results indicated both, the pressure on land resources for settlement growth and – in face of continuous population growth – an increasing demand for comprehensive spatial planning in rural Uzbekistan. The elaborated methodological approach can be extrapolated to regions throughout Central Asia with similar environmental conditions.

@article{Conrad201529, abstract = {Abstract Population growth demands sustainable spatial planning strategies for settlements in Uzbekistan, Central Asia, especially in rural areas that are inhabited by approximately 64 percent of the country's population. Where can settlements expand in rural Uzbekistan and does settlement growth affect valuable agricultural land? SPOT-5 data with a resolution of 2.5 m was utilized for mapping building layers and assessing settlement growth between 2006 and 2011 at the example of 53 communities located in the Khorezm province in North-West Uzbekistan. Object based image analysis was conducted, i.e. a multi-scale segmentation for the derivation of building contours, followed by a random forest (RF) classification of the object's spectral and spatial characteristics. A geographical information system (GIS) was used for identifying settlement densification and expansion processes, and for quantifying agricultural land parcels of different soil quality occupied during settlement growth. A calibration routine based on indices of segmentation quality enabled the selection of optimal segmentation parameters. After GIS-based refinements of the \{RF\} classification results, the overall accuracy (OA) of the building layers of both years exceeded 95%. The \{OA\} of the change map was 92.7%. The results revealed that the building area increased by 20%, whilst settlement expansion amounted to 10% in 2006–2011. Settlements widely expanded in accordance with the existing rules prohibiting the conversion of agricultural land to housing areas. Nevertheless, about 20% of the settlement growth occurred on agricultural production areas, also on those with highly productive soils. The results indicated both, the pressure on land resources for settlement growth and – in face of continuous population growth – an increasing demand for comprehensive spatial planning in rural Uzbekistan. The elaborated methodological approach can be extrapolated to regions throughout Central Asia with similar environmental conditions. }, added-at = {2020-09-11T12:04:50.000+0200}, author = {Conrad, C. and Rudloff, M. and Abdullaev, I. and Thiel, M. and Löw, F. and Lamers, J.P.A.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/263bd7ffc07b4a9682d7d273799b61aa7/earthobs_uniwue}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2015.03.017}, interhash = {28d3a4f1c841119c26db337cdff7c005}, intrahash = {63bd7ffc07b4a9682d7d273799b61aa7}, issn = {0143-6228}, journal = {Applied Geography }, keywords = {article Thiel LSFE}, number = 0, pages = {29 - 43}, timestamp = {2020-11-18T22:08:33.000+0100}, title = {Measuring rural settlement expansion in Uzbekistan using remote sensing to support spatial planning }, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0143622815000831}, volume = 62, year = 2015 }