APPLICATION OF GIS IN THE SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF SLUMS IN FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN

Slums are considered as the eyesore in urban areas and appeared spontaneously and haphazardly. This research is an attempt to assess the spatial and temporal pattern of slums in Faisalabad city from 1978 to 2006 in order to analyze their distribution in time and space using GIS. The frame work of research is three fold. First fold is consisted of temporal analysis of the establishment of slums; secondly the spatial analysis of slums along major roads, and thirdly the analysis of slums with respect to distance from city center creating buffers with ArcGIS. The study reveals that the slums are concentrated in the western part of the city and they have emerged swiftly from 1978 to 1985 due to the development of industry in this time period. The spatial and temporal study shows that slums have been emerged in the areas of low land values and along major transport lines.