The United States population is increasing at a rate that induces the living and working space to expand. This expansion causes humans to put pressure on converting valuable farmlands to urban uses. New residential, industrial, commercial, and socioeconomic factors influence the expansion of a living and working place.Two facets of study are conducted in this research, one of Geography, and Sociology, brought under one research framework. The first purpose is to examine changes in land use in Muncie and Dela are County between 1988 to 1996. Furthermore, it also seeks to study the rate of urban expansion, and direction. The second purpose is to identify the underlying causative factors of urban sprawl.Remotely sensed data is used to determine land use changes, and focused interviews of subjects residing in areas identified as "change" to determine the partial causation of urban sprawl. Research analysis indicated that using remotely sensed data to monitor land use changes is feasible and cost-effective. Further analysis indicates that approximately 1200 acres of agricultural land was converted to urban uses, with the urban expansion moving to the western extremities of the study area. Overall, the analysis indicates the majority of developments were residential and commercial bases.The focused interviews yielded significant information in identifying the partial causation of urban sprawl. The focused interviews of residents living in the areas of change responded Schools as the salient reason for selecting to live in that particular area. / Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/186450 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Venugopal, Vinodh K. |
| Contributors | Unavailable |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | ix, 69 leaves : ill., col. maps ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us-in |
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