Evaluating the Impact of Urban Encroachment and Land Cover Changes on World Cultural Heritage Site Taxila: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis from 1990 to 2024

Taxila faces significant threats from rapid urban expansion and land cover changes between 1990 and 2024. Research reveals a dramatic increase in built-up areas (from 23.68 km² to 78.5 km²) and bare land (from 8.56 km² to 26.5 km²), with notable conversions of cropland and vegetation into urban and barren zones. Spatial analysis using support vector machine techniques and Getis–Ord Gi methods identified high clustering patterns near Sarakhola and Bhir Mound sites, while high-resolution imagery documented a critical loss of the Sarakhola site's core zone (from 0.0168 km² to 0.0032 km²), endangering its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The study underscores urgent conservation challenges, advocating for stricter heritage law enforcement and policy revisions to safeguard Taxila's authenticity and integrity.

Butt, N. u. S. Z., Wang, X., Luo, L., & Ul Hussan, H. (2025). Evaluating the Impact of Urban Encroachment and Land Cover Changes on World Cultural Heritage Site Taxila: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis from 1990 to 2024. Sustainability, 17(3), 1059. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17031059