Polycentric urban growth and identification of urban hot spots in Faridabad, the million-plus metropolitan city of Haryana, India: a zonal assessment using spatial metrics and GIS

Polycentric urban structure is the recent trend of new-age sustainable cities in India. Limited research is reported focused on quantitative analysis of polycentric structure at the intracity level. In the present research, a detailed database has been generated using multitemporal satellite imageries. Zone-wise quantitative analysis, supported by the database, exhibits clear evidence of transit-oriented polycentric urban growth around Old Faridabad, NIT and Ballabhgarh. Linear urban expansion close to highways, railways, metro ways and urban extension as Greater Faridabad has led to the vertical expansion of the city. Highly variable urban density has been observed in the southern and south-western zones. Shannon's entropy has identified even distribution of built-up around Old Faridabad, whereas clustering of high urban density around NIT and Ballabhgarh. Getis-Ord Gi* statistics have identified a consistent increase of urban hot spot areas from 21.92% (2007), 26% (2012) to 27.48% (2017). The present study suggests planners and policymakers to improve the connectivity between the upcoming urban centre Greater Faridabad, three existing urban centres and other under-developed districts of Haryana to achieve balanced development. Such a step would contribute to the sustainable solutions for various issues over the hot spot around the current urban centres and achieve inclusive urban growth in Faridabad. Moreover, current findings contribute to building a model framework for analysing urban growth patterns even for other satellite cities of India.