Remote Sensing and GIS Assessment of a Typical African Urban City: A Case Study of Ibadan, Nigeriadistrict

Abstract

Ibadan, a typical West African City, emerged from a traditional rural land use as a result of its socio-economic, educational, traditional and political uses. The perceived rapid growth of the now peripheral areas from the core Central Business District (CBD) tends to undermine a regimented planned land use system and as such constituting a menace to government zoning plans. This paper, therefore, synthesizes three epochs remotely sensed satellite images: 1972 Landsat (MSS), 1986 Landsat Thematic Mapping(TM) and 2000 Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) obtained from the USGS glcf website to examine the observed changes in land cover and land use pattern as well as urban growth process in Ibadan. GIS and remote sensing methods were used for image-processing, classification, and results from analyses. The study showed that in 1972, the buildup was 107 km2, it increased to 192 km2 in 1986 and almost doubled in 2000 (381 km2). The 2010 projection was 760 km2 and it is projected to 1520 km2 in 2020. The study further indicates that the city follows a trend of doubling in area size at least in every ten years. Decongesting the CBD through the provision of social amenities in the proximal urban fringes and rural areas are considered the most potent ways to remedy the seemingly urban menace