Analysis of urban sprawl in mega cities synergistically using Landsat and TerraSAR-X data

Over the last 50 years, the world has faced dramatic growth of its urban population. In 2007 the amount of urban residents has outnumbered the rural population for the first time in history and by the year 2030 already two-thirds of the world’s population is expected to live in cities [1]. The number of so-called mega cities –cities with more than 10 million inhabitants– increased in the period from 1975 until today from 4 to 22, mostly in less developed regions [2]. Furthermore, a United Nations report [1] projects that almost all global population growth in the next 30 years will be concentrated in urban areas. This dynamic phenomenon will necessitate advanced methodologies such as space technologies, which will help city planners, economists, environmentalists, ecologists and resource managers solve the problems which accompany such growth [3]. In this uncontrolled situation, city planners lack tools to measure, monitor, and understand urban sprawl processes.