Abstract

Colombo is the economic hub of Sri Lanka. Over the last two (2) decades, the physical dynamics have continually been altered to find space for urban development. Many argued that that rapid development would lead to a lot of environmental issues in Colombo. Hence, aim of this paper is to an analysis and extracts the relationship of the rapid Land Use and Land Covers (LULC) changes in six Divisional Secretariat Divisions (DS Division) in Colombo District and some of the environmental factors associated with these rapid changes: Land Surface Temperature (LST), Surface Water Quality and Soil characteristics. Primarily remote Sensing (RS) data, water quality and soil characteristic data were used. 1990 to 2015 LULC changes were an analysis based on Geographical Information System (GIS) tools (Arc GIS 10.3). Additionally, United States Geological Society (USGS) and NASA Landsat 7 and 8 data were used to investigate LST. Results show significant and accelerated land cover changes have taken place since 2010, where nearly 30% of new build-up has generated from 1990 to 2015 with large changes in wetlands and cultivated areas. Surface Water and Soil quality have degraded over the last few decades. From 2010 to 2015, the maximum LST area has increased by 30%. These results should provide the basis for the development of urban planning and regulations, holistic approaches to restore, conserve and manage the LULC, a balance of land covers demand and a sustainable human-environment and environmental and land use policies in Sri Lanka and, in particular, Colombo.