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Rapid urbanization has resulted in sudden degradation of the environmental quality of urban settlements, which are difficult to measure and quantify. The present study attempts to provide an assessment of the environmental quality by developing environmental quality index (EQI) for the Ernakulam district in Kerala, India. The index values are spatially mapped to develop an environmental quality index map for the study area under five different classes namely, very poor, poor, moderate, good, very good. The EQI values are calculated for nineteen composite variables classified under three domains namely, ecological, meteorological, and socio-economic domains. A preliminary statistical analysis and detailed principal component analysis (PCA) were performed to construct the environmental quality index for the study region. This was followed by a spatial mapping and analysis to provide a better understanding of the status of the environmental quality to the local residents, environmental planners, regional scientists and policy makers. The results obtained from the analysis show that the study area has a low overall environmental quality. The region considered in this paper has highlighting features of various settlement patterns, population distributions, and land use distributions, which indicates a clear transition in the environmental quality index of different settlement units. Hence, by selecting this region and observing various number of indicators, the real effect of urbanization on the quality of the environment was projected. The systematic methodological procedure explained in this paper can be used elsewhere also, where the study area has similar characteristics as that of the area considered in this study. The outcome of the study is applicable for present and future urban planning, building construction, land and resource management for a sustainable environment.

Smart Global Community (SGC) is an innovative concept of community development involving economy generation within a community using appropriate smart technologies. The location of SGCs is ideal within the vicinities of various institutes, which can impart technological support for the betterment of the neighborhood, thereby elevating their economic status. The SGC proposes a symbiotic relationship between the institutes and the neighborhood that serves the requirements of the institute. The present study identifies Kattangal, a neighborhood community, near two national level institutions, the National Institute of Technology, Calicut and the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology as a model for the development of such SGCs. The study area is delineated based on the walkable neighborhood concept within a 1.5 km radius from the primary node called Kattangal. A reconnaissance survey identified the natural features that form the boundary of the study area. An extensive field survey identified the issues, potentials, and opportunities presented by Kattangal. The field survey’s thrust area includes land area identification for suitable workspaces, availability of human resources, infrastructure, and recreational open spaces in the study area. The survey identifies the primary stakeholders in the study region. A household sample survey, shop owners survey, and NITC student’s aspiration survey follows the initial reconnaissance survey. The survey inputs are processed, which proposes essential strategies to elevate the community to an SGC. It follows a Focus Group Discussion involving various stakeholders. The Focus Group Discussion helps arrive at suitable strategies that the community can accept and adopt. The study also explores the connectivity of the community to augment and establish suitable supply chain management strategies.

The land use and land cover is changing in different parts of the world, the root cause of which is the increasing urbanization rate. The peri-urban areas are transforming due to this pressure, leading to urban expansion and resulting in major changes in land use along the highway. Such peri-urban areas are largely neglected in policy and practice because they are mostly included in the rural category and come as a region beyond the urban administration. Hence, the present study is focused on the analysis of the impact of land use land cover change on the urbanizing region along a highway using geospatial technology. Seven typical nodes were carefully chosen along the corridor and a growth node was identified. An undeveloped node having an area of 5 km2 was chosen as a case study for further analysis and proposal. The entire study area was zoned into three categories (emerging zone, agricultural and tourism zone, and residential zone) based on the prominent land uses for the suggestion of the proposals. The present study can be beneficial to planners, administrators, and policymakers as a stepping stone in promoting the sustainability of peri-urban areas.