Investigation on Built-up, Population, and Road Network Density Dynamics Using GIS, Regression, and Causation Analysis: A Case Study of Hyderabad City, India.

In the present study, the dynamics of built-up and population, and the distribution of the road network were investigated to assess the efficiency of land consumption in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Area (HMA) between the years 1975 and 2015. Statistical techniques, geographic information systems (GIS), and causation analysis have been adopted to quantify and study land consumption efficiency. For this purpose, the built-up and population data are obtained from the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) and road network maps are obtained from the OpenStreetMap (OSM) data set. To assess land use efficiency (LUE), the methodology provided in "SDG 11.3.1. Metadata" is adopted. From the results, it is evident that the average accuracy of the GHSL population layer between the years 1990 and 2015 was more than 90% and the absolute percent error of the GHSL population layer decreased with time. It was also observed that between 1990 and 2015 the HMA was stably moving toward sufficient land per person. Through correlation analysis, it was identified that there exists a very strong correlation between built-up, population, and road network density. The causation analysis using a novel coefficient of causation affirmed that changes in built-up and population are both caused equal changes on their counterpart and the built-up and population both influenced the changes in the road density of the HMA. From the findings of the current article, it is evident that the correlation and the causation analysis together give a clear understanding of the built-up and population dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]