Quantitative Assessment of Urban Sprawl Dynamics in Moradabad City Using Built-Up Expansion Index and Shannon’s Entropy (1994–2024)

Urban sprawl in emerging Indian cities has accelerated over the last three decades as a consequence of rapid population growth, industrial expansion, infrastructure development, and market-driven land conversion. Moradabad, a fast-growing urban center in Uttar Pradesh, has undergone substantial morphological transformation between 1994 and 2024. This study undertakes a comprehensive and quantitative examination of urban sprawl dynamics in Moradabad through the integration of ward-wise and zone-wise built-up expansion, gradient directional analysis, Shannon’s entropy, the Urban Expansion Intensity Index (UEII), and spatial pattern typologies such as edge, ribbon, infill, and leapfrog development. Multi-temporal urban land data for 1994, 2004, 2014, and 2024 were utilized to assess patterns and magnitudes of expansion. The results indicate a nearly 2.5-fold growth in the urban area, increasing from 9.02 km2 in 1994 to 23.86 km2 in 2024, with sustained outward expansion accompanied by increasing fragmentation and dispersion from the urban core to the periphery. Shannon’s entropy values increased from 0.60 in 1994 to 0.73 in 2024, reflecting a marked shift from compact to dispersed development. The UEII increased from 0.45 (1994–2004) to a peak of 1.13 (2004–2014), followed by a decline to 0.85 (2014–2024), indicating an initial acceleration in urban expansion and intensity, and a subsequent moderation, while urban growth remains relatively high and dispersed. Edge development increases constantly by 24.45% to 30.93% throughout the decades. Ribbon development was the most dominant typology, constituting 37.89% of total urban expansion from 1994 to 2004. Ribbon development decreased from 37.89% to 32.56% by 2024, while leapfrog development showed a similar fall from 35.24% to 31.61% during the same period; in contrast, infill growth remained comparatively limited. The findings indicate a strong spatial association between urban expansion patterns and the distribution of transportation corridors and industrial areas. However, the present analysis does not directly quantify the causal influence of these factors on urban growth, particularly in the SSW, SSE, ESE, and NE zones, in contrast to prior studies.