This multidisciplinary book discusses and scientifically analyzes issues related to population, land use/cover (LULC) and environmental transformations in the seven most populated cities in India: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. To do so, it closely examines and compares the trends in selected population parameters, including total population, total number of households, population density, population growth rate, percent of total population in slums and intercensal net migration over the past two decades. Presenting the changes in various LULC categories (built-up land, forest cover, agricultural land, fallow land and water bodies) using the supervised classification of Landsat TM-5 images, it assesses the impact of population and LULC on the maximum and minimum temperatures and average annual rainfall in these regions. The book is a valuable resource for researchers and academics in the areas of sustainability, population and development, and environmental studies as well as those in NGOs and humanitarian sectors working in the areas of sustainable development and environment.

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1: Population, land use/cover and environment: Concerns of the metropolis

1.2: Indian context

1.4: Innovations in our approach

1.5: Overview of the study area

1.6: References

Chapter 2: Data sources and methodology

                2.1: Census data

                2.2: Satellite data

                2.3: Data from Central Pollution Control Board

2.4: Limitations of data

2.5: Methods and techniques: Remote sensing and GIS

Chapter 3: Population dynamics in seven cities

                3.2: Change in total population and growth rates

                3.3: Change in total number of households

                3.4: Change in migrant population

                3.5: Change in population live in slums

                3.6: Change in population density

                3.7: Conclusion

                3.8. References

Chapter 4: Land use/cover (LULC) change in seven cities

4.1: Drivers of land use change in Indian cities

                4.2: Spatio-temporal pattern of land use change in Delhi

                4.3: Spatio-temporal pattern of land use change in Mumbai

                4.4: Spatio-temporal pattern of land use change in Kolkata

                4.6: Spatio-temporal pattern of land use change in Chennai

                4.7: Spatio-temporal pattern of land use change in Hyderabad

4.8: Spatio-temporal pattern of land use change in Ahmedabad

4.9: Comparison of land use changes in the cities

                4.10: Conclusion

Chapter 5: Environmental challenges in seven cities:

5.1: Key environmental challenges in Indian cities