Marginal Structural Changes in Peri-zone of Shimla City (H.P.)

Abstract

This paper stresses the necessity to study the spatio-temporal change in the city of
Shimla. Rapid changes in the landuse pattern of a region have become an important concern
in these days. Land use changes produced by human and natural phenomena play a major
role in global as well as at regional scale patterns of the earth system. Understanding the
physical complexities of various scales, from individual buildings, plots, street blocks and
the street patterns that make up the structure of towns helps us to understand the way in
which town have grown and developed. The city is a dynamic organism, constantly in
process of evolution. The evolution involves both a modification of long established functions
and the addition of new functions.
The urban sprawl or expansion often encroaches upon agricultural or productive
forestland; neither of which can resist the momentum of urbanization. City growth is an
indicator of development, the change in landuse pattern from rural to urban is monitored to
estimate population, predict and plan direction of urban sprawl for developers. It resulted in
the establishment of many new business centers and growth of existing ones. The Key
element for mapping rural to urban land use change is the ability to discriminate between
rural uses (farming, pasture, forest) and urban use (residential, commercial, recreational). In
Shimla town many residential, industrial and transport centers, government offices, agencies,
research and development institutes, educational centers, recreational facilities have sprung
up. This has given fresh impetus to the overall development of the capital city