CWE/1775/2026 Current World Environment 0973-4929 2320-8031 4 CWE--100-00 <p>Assessing the Impact of Urbanisation on Ecosystem Services in the Aravalli Foothills</p> 1 , Amity School of Earth and Environmental Science, Amity University Haryana, Gurugram, India 2 , School of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies, IGNOU, New Delhi, India 3 , Amity School of Earth and Environmental Science, Amity University Haryana, Gurugram, India 4 , School of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies, IGNOU, New Delhi, India Volume 21 Volume 21 Abstract

Urban development is a dynamic process that extensively alters the geography and ecosystems, especially in the aftermath of rapid growth in ecologically fragile regions such as the Aravalli foothills of Haryana. This paper examines the impact of urban sprawl on ecosystem services in six foothill villages of the Aravalli region in the Gurugram district of Haryana. A total of 150 respondents were sampled using a purposive sampling technique, and a structured Likert-scale questionnaire was administered to respondents to collect the required data under assessment, which was then analysed by using statistical interpretation through SPSS. The paper explores the interaction between urbanisation and changes in the fundamental ecosystem services, which are the integrity of the habitat, water resources, soil quality, and climate stability. The findings indicate that the high levels of land-use change, construction and population are increasingly dislodging habitats and ecological networks and inhibiting the capacity of the region to sustain ecosystem processes. In the study, quantitative analysis is used to provide a general concept of the ecological transformation in the foothill landscape of the Aravalli terrain. The research, by shedding light on the environmental implications of the uncontrolled urban expansion, contributes to the existing arguments of maintaining a balance between urban development and ecosystem sustainability in the delicate foothill setting and provides suggestions on more sustainable urban planning approaches.

Keywords Aravalli Hills Biodiversity Loss Ecosystem Services Habitat Fragmentation Sustainability Urbanisation