Detection of Urban Development in Uyo (Nigeria) Using Remote Sensing

Abstract

Uyo is one of the fastest-growing cities in Nigeria. In recent years, there has been a widespread change in land use, yet to date, there is no thorough mapping of vegetation change across the area. This study focuses on land use change, urban development, and the driving forces behind natural vegetation loss in Uyo. Based on time series Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+)/Operational Land Imager (OLI) image data, the relationships between urban land development and its influencing factors from 1985 to 2018 were analyzed using remote sensing (RS) and time series data. The results show eight land use cover classes. Three of these (forest, swamp vegetation, and mixed vegetation) are related to natural vegetation, and three (sparse built-up, dense built-up, and borrow pit) are direct consequences of urban infrastructure development changes to the landscape. Swamp vegetation, mixed vegetation, and forest are the most affected land use classes. Thus, the rapid growth of infrastructure and industrial centers and the rural and urban mobility of labor have resulted in an increased growth of built-up land. Additionally, the growth pattern of built-up land in Uyo corresponds with socioeconomic interviews conducted in the area. Land use changes in Uyo could be attributed to changes in economic structure, urbanization through infrastructure development, and population growth. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) analysis shows a trend of decreasing vegetation in Uyo, which suggests that changes in economic structure represent a key driver of vegetation loss. Furthermore, the implementation of scientific and national policies by government agencies directed at reducing the effects of urbanization growth should be strengthened, in order to calm the disagreement between urban developers and environmental managers and promote sustainable land use.

Monitoring and Predicting Spatio-Temporal Land Use/Land Cover Changes in Zaria City, Nigeria, through an Integrated Cellular Automata and Markov Chain Model (CA-Markov)

“…This increase in the possibility of barren land and water bodies changing to built-up areas can be ascribed to the city's historical setting and rapid population growth, mainly due to agricultural activities. The rapid increase in the city's population also led to an increased demand for urban infrastructures and services, which contributes to the expansion of built-up areas, as similarly observed in the growth and development of prominent cities such as Lagos, Uyo, and Abuja in Nigeria [17,51,52].…”

“…Nigeria's census data have shown Zaria city's population to have increased drastically from 284,318 in 1990 to an estimated 975,153 inhabitants in 2016 [50]. Previous studies indicate that the growth and expansion of built-up areas in most urban centers in Nigeria have decreased the extent of farmlands and vegetation cover [51][52][53]. This growth has contributed negatively to the natural environment.…”

Spatiotemporal Influence of Land Use/Land Cover Change Dynamics on Surface Urban Heat Island: A Case Study of Abuja Metropolis, Nigeria

“…Although several studies exist on LULC scenarios of selected cities in developing countries such as Nigeria [34][35][36][37][38][39], comprehensive studies on the spatiotemporal analysis of LULC changes and their influence on the surface UHI of Nigeria's rapidly growing cities are still relatively limited to non-existent. Abuja, Nigeria's capital and one of Nigeria's largest cities, has been under tremendous pressure over the last few decades due to rapid urbanization and population growth.…”

Effect of increasing rate of tricycles on saturation flows at signalized intersections in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

“…Uyo is the capital of Akwa Ibom State created in 1987 and located at the south-south region of Nigeria, thus having tropical climate condition. The city lies between longitudes 37°50' E and 37°51' E and between latitudes 55°40' N and 54°59' N. Uyo has a total area of 188.035 km 2 and an estimated population of 3.920,208 [15][16][17]. In the past nine years, there has been massive increase in infrastructural growth in Uyo, leading to the city becoming a fast growing one in Nigeria.…”