A new study by a professor from the Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay (IIT-B) and a PhD researcher shows how digital interpretation of archived images and satellite data, could provide a base plan to predict growth directions in a metropolitan area. The study focuses on the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), wherein the researchers have studied growth patterns in the past four decades, presenting concerns over the declining balance between development and conservation of ecology.

The study titled, 'Understanding How Cities Grow – using digital processing of archived satellite images to study the growth patterns in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region,' suggests the possibility of development of an algorithm to objectively predict future growth patterns in any metropolitan region, which can give a set of preconditions like capital investment or environmental damage. The study by Professor Shirish Gedam and Dr Priya Mendiratta, from the Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering (CSRE) at the IIT-B, was recently published in Applied Geography, the internationally acclaimed journal.