Comparative Analysis on Spatio-Temporal Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) Characteristics in Three Asia Cities

integration of Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) methods is one of the most important methods for detecting LULC's change. In this study, with the support of GIS, RS technology and based on recent 10 years LULC data, the landscape pattern dynamics and regional spatio-temporal features related with the LULC change of three metropolis in Asian region, Zhangjiagang (China), Dehradun (India), and Hanoi (Vietnam) are analyzed. We mapping the LULC using supervised method with parallelepiped-maximum likelihood algorithm in ERDAS Imagine 9.1 of the study area based on three consecutive satellite images: Landsat TM, Landsat ETM+ and ASTER. The regional feature of the three cities illustrates different development direction, and the urbanization process of the cities was at different stages. Zhangjiagang was found at the highest stage of urbanization, and with the significant high per capita income level. Hanoi and Dehradun were demonstrated a moderate degree of urbanization and extensive land alternation of agricultural and non-used land to urban area. In Hanoi, Vietnam's capital city, urban agriculture is a longstanding feature, but rapid urban growth is leading to greater competition over land use. In Dehradun, urban areas increased from 96.15 ha to 150.23 ha while agricultural areas decreased from 91.59ha to 45.33ha from 2000-2009. Urban class showed an overall amount and extent of change from 28023 ha to 33215 ha while agricultural areas decrease from 45031 to 41173 during 2002-2010 in Zhangjiagang. As the result, the issue of low quality and security of food was concerned in these three areas. Government support has encouraged urban producers to modernize and invest in safer developing practices. However, in these cities, as indeed elsewhere, there is an urgent need to recognize the significance of sustainable development, agriculture and native forest area reservation in future planning strategies. This kind of strategies identifies key trends and underlying environmental and socio-economic factors, and considers the future sustainability of the practice.