Measuring the suitability of urban residential zones in Galle city: a gis analysis

Abstract

Urbanization is an unending process because increasing numbers of people are attracted to urban areas in the hope of finding better and more convenient living conditions. As a result, the demand for residential land in the areas surrounding cities has become very high. In fact, urban sprawl is a universal phenomenon that exists in most developed and developing countries today. Due to this, most cities now face the very challenging task of providing habitable land with better infrastructure to fulfill the residential demand.Under the prevailing situation though, most of the areas demarcated for residential use are unable to provide better facilities and living conditions for those wishing to move in there. This is a common problem in Galle, which is the Capital of the Southern Province and a densely populated city. According to the proposed zoning plan (2008-2025) of the Urban Development Authority, eight Primary residential zones have been demarcated within the Galle Municipal Council limits. This paper evaluates the prevailing challenges confronting these primary residential zones by measuring their suitability levels using four key criteria, which are, level of infrastructure, land value, road accessibility and proximity to town center. GIS based weighted overlay analysis has been applied to measure the level of suitability of each residential zone. Results of the analysis have shown that 0.41% of the land is highly suitable, 31% of land is moderately suitable, 63% of land is barely suitable, while 5% is quite unsuitable for residential use. Knowing this can help the planners and policy makers to monitor the urban land development process and formulate appropriate urban growth policies and strategies for the city. Apart from that, many stakeholders are trying to understand the nature of the residential property market that follows in the immediate wake of property development. This will be useful for the people who are looking for suitable and profitable places to purchase their residential properties and to identify the development level of the area.