The GIS analysis also revealed that the area occupied by water bodies decreased by 16.2%, wetlands by 11.5%, cultivated land by 34.1%, and vegetation by 13.6% between 1975 and 1992. Another significant change was the decline in wetlands and vegetation from 1992 to 2003. In 1992, wetlands and vegetation occupied 28% and 13.7% of the total study area, but by 2003, these areas had declined to 21.7% and 5.5%, respectively. Conversely, built-up areas increased in size by 37.9% in the period from 1992 to 2003. A slight increase in cultivated land (6.7%) was also observed in this period. The decline of vegetation and wetlands was clearly due to intensification of urban development in the greater Dhaka area, particularly through the process of suburban development. As shown in Table 4, there has been a marked change in LULC over the 28-year study period.