Evaluating urban expansion of Mekong Delta's cities: A Case study of Tra Vinh city = Đánh giá đô thị hóa ở các đô thị vùng ĐBSCL: Nghiên cứu điển hình tại thành phố Trà Vinh

Abstract

The significant urbanization trends in Vietnam since the economic reforms of 1986, with a projected urban population exceeding 50% by 2030. Despite these trends, Tra Vinh's urban growth has been characterized by inefficient resource allocation and fragmented development, threatening agricultural land and leading to environmental degradation. This research paper studies the urban expansion of Tra Vinh City, through the application of remote sensing techniques and machine learning algorithms. Utilizing satellite imagery from Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2, the research employs Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers to accurately delineate urban boundaries and quantify peri urban areas. The RF algorithm demonstrated superior performance with an accuracy of 99.75%. revealing that only 19% of Tra Vinh's administrative area is currently urbanized. This finding underscores the potential for further development while emphasizing the necessity for sustainable urban planning strategies to mitigate challenges such as infrastructure inefficiencies, environmental impacts, and social disparities.