International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 3, (2020), pp. 11232 - 11241 Mapping Socio-Spatial Characteristics of Malappuram, Kerala, India Dr. Nisar Khan1*, Aamir Khan2, Ajay Singhal2, Ankita Mangalik2, Sana Zehra2 1Department of Architecture Jamia Millia Islamia email:
[email protected] 2Independent Researchers *Corresponding Author Abstract The objective of this exercise was to prepare city level maps for the city of Malappuram to document the social and economical characteristics in spatial dimension. Cities are not uniformly distributed with respect to var- ious socio-economic aspects and thus illustrate diversity at urban scale. Mapping this diversity helps in un- derstanding the pattern of urbanisation for that city and helps in taking informed decisions for its future de- velopment and planning. In this article five maps namely; evolution of city, morphology, ward wise population density, distribution of religious groups and occupation pattern are provided along with their explanation for the city of Malappuram. These maps are based on field surveys conducted in the year 2015. Keywords: Maps, Socio-Spatial, Diversity, Urban Pattern, Malappuram 1. Introduction Malappuram is a city located in the southern state of Kerala, India. The city of Malappuram is located about 50 kms south-east of the coastal city of Calicut. With a city population of 101,386 persons, Malappuram barely crosses the population threshold to qualify as a city. (Census 2011a) While the city is one of the smallest by the population size in the country, the urban agglomeration of Malappuram hosts a comparatively large popu- lation of 1,699,060 persons. (Census 2011b) This type of regional distribution of urbanisation is typically seen in the state of Kerala where the hierarchy of urbanisation is found to be comparatively balanced.