Spatio-temporal Analysis of Urban Growth Pattern in Lisbon Metropolitan Area

Increasing satellite data availability with improved resolution and modern image processing techniques allow a better understanding of the urbanization process. Remote sensing enables an effective definition of planning strategies for sustainable urban growth. This skill is assuming strategical importance knowing that in 2015, more than half of the world’s population will be urban (National Intelligence Council, 2000; UNECE, 2003). In this study, an urban growth analysis is performed using two unclassified Landsat images of 1989 and 2000. After defining the limit of the built-up areas of Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) for each of these images with digital image processing techniques, selected spatial metrics are used for describing and analysing the evolution of urban growth pattern of this fast-growing region. Overall accuracy achieved for year 2000 was 86% with a Khat statistic of 67.3%. Results obtained reveal that built areas increased approximately 21.4% between 1989 and 2000 in AML.