LAND OBSERVATIONS AND MANAGEMENT IN THE OUTLOOK OF URBAN GROWTH

Urban growth is a specific phenomenon to the evolution of cities, which exhibits over time through the fact that cities, from the moment they emerge, go through a continuous process of development and expansion. Urban growth means the spatial multiplication of the built-up (or otherwise valorized) land surfaces inside and outside the city boundary. Our research objective is to better understand all the dimensions affected by urban growth and their relationships, thus being necessary to use remote sensing techniques to identify the type of satellite imagery processed output that is best related to the economic and social indicators recorded statistically and historically. In the present paper, following the research carried out, the authors present the progress that they have made in terms of monitoring and studying the urban growth phenomenon for the city of Bucharest, based on the spatial patterns of the land use/land cover surfaces obtained through remote sensing of Landsat satellite imagery that emphasize the changes in the built-up land surfaces in more than four decades. Thus, the authors identified the changes at the macro scale of the city using the techniques of satellite remote sensing and established the most effective relationships to the historic, spatial, economic, and social statistical determinants. The results show which factors are decisive and which are the best land observations and forecasting techniques that can help the urban management of the city and its future development. The forecasting can be used both to estimate the chronological evolutions and future changes in urban surface and to think about city development policies and to surmount the absence of statistical socio-economic data.