ASSESSMENT OF URBAN EXPANSION IN AKURE SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS TECHNIQUES

Abstract

Since 1976, when Akure was named the administrative center of Ondo State, it has undergone fast expansion in terms of the city’s population growth and urban sprawl. Environmental and climatic issues can be brought about by these agents of landuse and landcover changes. Because of this, we combined field surveys, geographic information system (GIS) methodologies, and temporal remote sensing data to discover changes in land use and land cover in Akure, Nigeria (Lat: 7.25 °N; Lon: 5.20 °E), between 1986 and 2007. The major goal of this strategy is to evaluate the landuse-landcover changes (LULCC) in Akure at various epochs in order to identify the changes that have taken place and then predict the changes that are most likely to occur.

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1Background of the study

Anywhere humans dwell, urbanization as a process is a worldwide phenomena that has been noted as a significant development in recent years (Sudhiraetal., 2004). (Weber and Puissant, 2003). Research by the UN in 2009 indicated that metropolitan regions are home to half of the world’s population. Furthermore, developing nations have seen the majority of the expansion in urban populations. In some circumstances, the amount of space occupied by urban areas is growing more quickly than the population of those places (Pijanowskiet al, 2010). Global urbanization was accelerated by the Industrial Revolution, and in the last ten years, much attention has been paid to changes in urban land use and cover because urban ecosystems are heavily impacted by human activity and have close ties to the lives of nearly half of humanity (Xiao et al., 2006).

Urban areas’ rapid growth has led to a number of complicated issues, including environmental contamination, the endangerment of natural resources, a reduction of open space, changes to the thermal climate, unsatisfactory infrastructures, and poorly planned or uncontrolled land development.

• Parka et al. Inadequate urban infrastructure required to support the population has also been brought about, along with unparalleled urban environmental degradation. Urban expansion is described as altering the environment or substituting urban land uses (such as structures, modes of transportation, and parking lots) for natural or agricultural land cover (Slempet al., 2012). The demand for new services, amenities, and decentralization from the urban center as a result of population growth is a major component in urban development and expansion, and valuable farmland is frequently left exposed as a result of the actions of commercial or residential developers. These result in changes to land use and land cover (LULC). Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) are major forces behind world change. It should be noted that over the past 15 years, changes in land use and cover have come to be recognized as significant global environmental changes in and of themselves. Several LULC investigations employing maps, aerial photos, and satellite images have been reported in Nigeria. The original kind of land cover in Nigeria has reportedly been altered by a number of reasons, including agricultural colonization, the expansion of rural towns, the development of rural road networks, and government.

In Akure, where urbanization, housing construction, agriculture, and deforestation are the main drivers of land cover change and, consequently, urban sprawl, the same is true. These modifications have an impact on local climate, land consumption, and population expansion (Owoeye and Akinluyi, 2018). Due to incompatible changes in land use patterns, Akure’s urbanization has led to the depletion of natural resources and also contributed to environmental degradation (Oyinloye, 2013). Forestland and agriculturally useful land are being transformed to housing and other private and public uses.

According to Balogunet al. (2011), the pattern of a region’s land use and cover results from how people have used natural and socioeconomic elements over time and space. As a result, Akure’s unchecked urban growth has negatively impacted its ecology, which may have an indirect impact on weather variables and lead to local climate change (Akinbodeet al.,2007).

If not properly controlled, urban sprawl has the negative effect of creating unplanned, monotonous developments that do not allow for a functional mix of uses. It can also take the form of low-density, ribbon or strip development, scattered, leapfrog discontinuous development, hot, or inefficient use of land. Urban sprawl is defined by Glaeser et al. (2001) as a pattern in an urbanized area that demonstrates some combination of eight different qualities, including closeness, centralization, nuclearity, concentration, clustering, continuity, and clustering of uses. These factors destroy agricultural fields, degrade water quality, raise the temperature of the land surface, and pollute the air. As a result of covering the earth’s surface with construction materials like concrete and asphalt, such as buildings and paved roads, the areas have increased solar radiation absorption, increased thermal conductivity, and are better able to release the heat that has been stored during the day and night. This resulted from the urbanization process, which altered the earth’s natural terrain.

Remote sensing technology makes the assessment and management of an urban area efficient. It serves as a reliable source of thematic maps such as those that represent land cover as it provides the representation of the Earth’s surface on a map with consistent spatial features, as well as available at a range of spatial and temporal scales (Giles, 2002). UrbanPlanners frequently make use of remotely sensed imagery, which they can overlay on other demographic or geographic information to provide a more detailed and insightful picture of the human landscape (Carlson, 2003).Few studies provided enough consideration to urbanexpansion and linked directly to its impact on natural resources and community character; however a lack of quality land use/cover maps for successful management and monitoring made their work redundant in the long run.

Statement of the problem

As a part of the Akure metropolis, the Akure-South local government has experienced rapid population increase, environmental changes, and enormous development in the amount of built-up areas, transportation, and commercial activity. These have worsened the environment and put strain on the ecosystem over the past three decades, increased air pollution, water consumption, wildlife extinction, racial and economic inequality, an increase in the risk of obesity, inadequate housing options, inadequate infrastructure, and an increase in urban climatological and ecological issues. The national agency for population program and development act, the Ondo State ministry of lands, housing, and urban development, and news forecast were the sources for all of this information. The goal of this project is to evaluate these issues and determine how remote sensing and GIS tools may be used to address them.

Objective of the study

The objectives of the study are to:

1.  Assessment of the Land use/land cover change in Akure South local government area
2.  Assessment of the Land surface temperature variation for Akure South Local government area.
3. To assess the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for the Akure South local government area

iv. Determine patterns of the urban expansion in respect to the previous years.

Research Hypotheses

The following research hypotheses are formulated;

H1:there is no Land use/land cover change in Akure South local government area

H2: there is no Land surface temperature variation for Akure South Local government area

Significance of the study

Akure, the state capital of Ondo state, Nigeria is undergoing rapid growth in every sense of its urban status. Ranging from its population which has tremendously increased from 157 947 in 1990 to 500 000 in 2006 (Balogunet al., 2011), the infrastructural development of the city also has been given a facelift, transportation and commercial activities have also increased.

The city serves as the administrative and economic seat to Akure South Local Government Area and OndoState with its creation in 1976 from the old Western State. Since then, Akure South Local Government Area has seen extensive growth in the size of built-up areas, number of inhabitants, transportation, and commercial activities, especially with establishment of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) in 1981.In the last three decades, it has experienced urban growth and expansion with respective changes in the land-atmosphere energy balance relationships which have occurred alongside traffic related, air quality degradation over the city (Balogunet al., 2011). Also the energy balance has been affected due to the increase in the number of built-up area there’s been some built up structures not adequately planned being put into place that did not follow regulations of relevant environmental agencies.

For this reason it’s crucial that a research/study is carried out to monitor, assess and evaluate the effect of this urban expansion for proper understanding and management of the environment.

Study area

The Akure-south LGA lies within Latitudes 7º 12′ 18.04̋ N and Longitudes 5º 11′ 15.58̋E (Nothings 790820 – 809277 mN and Easting 733726 – 752139 mE, UTM Minna Zone 31). The area is located on a gently undulating terrain surrounded by isolated hills and inselbergs. The study area covers about 331 km².

Topographic elevations vary between 260 and 470 m above sea level (Owoyemi, 1996). The metropolis is drained by several streams and rivers. The major ones are Ala and Owena. The city of Akure since it became the administrative headquarters of Ondo State in 1976 has been witnessing rapid developmental changes in terms of physical landscape, city growth and urban sprawl. In 1982 establishment of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) has also brought about rapid and unprecedented development leading to deforestation in Akure South Local Government Area. Figure 1.1 below shows the study area.

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