The Greater Toronto Area is the most vital economic centre in Canada and has experienced rapid urban expansion in the past 40 years. This research uses Landsat images to detect the spatial and temporal dynamics of urban expansion in the Greater Toronto Area from 1974 to 2014. We quantitatively analyzed the extent of urban expansion and spatial patterns of growth from classified Landsat images. We then integrated our expansion findings with population data to observe the relationships between urban growth and population. We found that the Greater Toronto Area had significant growth of 1115 km2, expanding mainly in radiated and ribbon expansion modes. There was substantial correlation between urban extent and population in the period of study. These results demonstrate the efficacy of combining statistical population data with remote sensing imagery for the analysis of urban expansion.
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