Analysis on Spatial Distribution of Settlements in Mingalardon Township

This research aims to describe spatial distribution of settlements in Mingalardon Township. The study area occupies the northern part of Yangon City. It is located in North Yangon District. The areal extent is 106.97 square kilometres in which about 260,000 people are residing. Due to the construction of main road through the township and installation of new infrastructural facilities, settlements have been more spatial distribution with fairly accelerated momentum in the recent years. The analysis spatial distribution of settlements in Mingalardon Township are based the result derived from detecting and comparing the Aerial Photographs (1990), Google Images (2010) as well as information acquired from ground surveys with Geographic Information System (GIS). According to Nearest Neighbour Analysis, the spatial distribution of the settlements is clustered. Kernel Density Analysis reveals that settlement density is highest at Htaukkyant Junction and the wards near Mingalardon Market. Generally, population density coincides with the settlement density. Checked by Euclidean Analysis, most settlements are distributed over an elevation of about 10 metres about sea-level. The type of housing varies from place to place, but the wooden houses are the most dominant. The future more distribution of settlement within the study area depends largely on the government policy and if the adjacent agricultural land is allocated for use as residential land, the pace of settlement growth would be somewhat accelerated in the near future, although about half of the township area is not available for residential use.