Spatio-Temporal Urban Land Use/Cover Change Analysis in a Hill Station: The Case of Baguio City, Philippines

This study explores the spatial and temporal characteristics of land use/cover (LUC) changes in Baguio city, the only American hill station in Asia and the summer capital of the Philippines. Remote sensing (RS) satellite images were used to develop the 1988, 1998, and 2009 LUC maps of the city in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) platform. Results reveal that the city has undergone a major physical landscape transformation for the last 21 years as indicated by a rapid built-up area expansion and substantial changes in its other land uses/covers. This study also analyzes the spatial pattern of urban growth in Baguio city. Furthermore, it presents insights in planning for the future sustainable urbanization of this highly valued city.