Land Use and Land Cover Change as an Indicator of Watershed Urban Development in the Kenyan Lake Victoria Basin

Abstract

The socio-economic and ecological value of Lake Victoria is threatened by significant regional development and urbanization. This study analyzed spatial-temporal land use/land cover changes in the Kenyan Lake Victoria basin from 1978–2018 using Landsat 3, 4-5 and 8 imagery, with a view to identifying the extent and potential impacts of urbanization on the basin. Supervised image classification was undertaken following the Maximum Likelihood algorithm to generate land use/land cover maps at ten-year intervals. Results indicate that the basin is characterized by six main land use/land cover classes namely, agricultural land, water bodies, grasslands and vegetation, bare land, forests and built-up areas. Further, the results indicate that the basin has experienced net increases in built-up areas (+97.56%), forests (+17.30%) and agricultural land (+3.54%) over the last 40 years. During the same period, it experienced net losses in grassland and vegetation (-37.36%), bare land (-9.28%) and water bodies (-2.19%). Generally, the changing landscapes in the basin are characterized by conversion of natural environments to built-up environments and driven by human activities, urban populations and public policy decisions. The study therefore recommends the establishment of a land use system that creates a balance between the ecological realm and sustainable development.

The Transformation of Compact Rural Human Settlements in South Africa - The Case of Elim in Limpopo

“…Land use is how people utilise and manage the land to sustain their lives. It can be classified into agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, institutional and public buildings, or other land use originating from human activities that affect nature [1]. It also defines the structure and function of urban and rural environments and their benefits to human beings [2].…”

“…It also defines the structure and function of urban and rural environments and their benefits to human beings [2]. Land use information is indispensable in policymaking, administrative, business, and spatial planning because of its spatial details [1].…”

“…Worldwide land-use patterns rapidly changed during the twentieth century due to rapid population growth, urbanisation, and industrialisation. For example, in Europe, India, China, and Africa, land-use changes are mainly caused by urbanisation [1]. Urbanisation includes expanding urban land uses and changing settlement patterns from dispersed to dense settlements.…”

“…When analysing the spatial transformation of dense settlements in former homeland areas, their historical and current political, social, and planning approach context should be included, considering that urban and rural areas are interlinked. Land-use changes and spatial transformation have been well researched in European, Indian, and Chinese cities and towns [1]. However, in South Africa, research concentrated on metropolitan areas [10,13,14], while similar studies in small towns and densely populated settlements in former homeland areas are still limited.…”

Teaching of Remote Sensing Technology for Landscape Architecture in the Context of Spatial Information Technology

“…The emerging digital technology provides a rational and objective method to mine and quantify the endogenous laws of landscape architecture, making the landscape architecture research much more scientific and efficient. Spatial information technology has quickly permeated every aspect of the teaching, scientific research, and engineering of landscape architecture [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Representative spatial information techniques, including remote sensing (RS), spatial big data, earth observation monitoring, and spatial positioning and simulation, directly drive the synergistic development between the teaching of RS in landscape architecture and the teaching of landscape architecture design, and stimulate the continued breakthroughs and innovations of relevant teaching platforms, methods, and experimental means [11].…”