Date of Award

Spring 2013

Degree Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Geography and Geology

Committee Chair

David Cochran

Committee Chair Department

Geography and Geology

Committee Member 2

Clifton Dixon

Committee Member 2 Department

Geography and Geology

Committee Member 3

Jerry Bass

Committee Member 3 Department

Geography and Geology

Abstract

One of the most important mechanisms in which human societies have transformed the earth is through urbanization. Land use changes such as from cropland to businesses are important ways in which urban growth transforms landscapes. This study uses qualitative and quantitative methods in order to visualize where urban growth and landscape changes are occurring between Hattiesburg and Columbia, Mississippi within the first decade of the 21st century. The methods I used involved conducting transects and creating hand-drawn maps, conversion of hand-drawn maps into ArcGIS shapefiles for interpretation and analysis, and lastly juxtaposition of shapefiles onto Landsat imagery. To analyze the data I wrote narratives, created a multiple ring buffer, and calculated the point density of the landscape features. The results of this research show that urban growth and related land use change is expanding in a pattern relative to that of the Burgess Model.

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