Determination Of Demographic Change And Urban Settlement Pattern In Multan City, Pakistan

Abstract

The temporal enhancement in population and spatial changes are part and parcel of each other. The population composition and structure of Multan reflect the city's diversity and complexity, as well as the broader social and cultural dynamics. In terms of settlement pattern the city is characterized by a mix of urban and sub urban areas. Required data was collected from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. This study investigates the shifts in population density and spatial distribution of settlements in Multan City by utilizing spatial population data from the census years between 1951 and 2017. High rate of demographic change directly impacts on urban settlements. Population increase required more infrastructure, more amenities, and more residential areas. The settlement pattern of Multan changed from time to time. Four Landsat images; 1993, 2003, 2013, and, 2023 were downloaded from the (USGS) official website. After the classification of these images urban areas were extracted in a GIS environment. Multan City is characterized by a dense and compact urban fabric with narrow streets and high-density residential and commercial buildings. Multan City has developed as a radial type of settlement. In Multan, leapfrog development can be seen in areas such as Gulgasht Colony, which is located on the southern edge of the city. The urban area in 1993 was 183.6 km² which increased to 630.7 km² in 2023.