Urbanisation and Development Challenges in Kargil, Ladakh

Urbanisation has been one of the significant drivers of socio-economic and environmental change in the Trans-Himalaya. Recently, the remote and less accessible areas of Ladakh have undergone rapid urbanisation due to road construction, mountain tourism, geopolitical factors, administrative changes, and external interventions. These driving factors are responsible for the drastic transformation and development in Ladakh's newly formed Union Territory (UT). The region has experienced rapid urban growth and unplanned urbanisation, particularly in the capital towns of Leh and Kargil. After Leh, the capital, Kargil town is the second-largest urban centre in the region. The town has witnessed significant changes in its urban landscape, driven by historical developments, urban population growth, rural-to-urban migration, spatial expansion, and the growing tourism sector. These factors have collectively contributed to the emergence, growth, and transformation of this mountain town in Ladakh. Based on a multi-temporal approach using high-resolution satellite images combined with a mixed methods approach and field surveys, urbanisation and its landscape dynamics have been analysed since the 1960s