Assessment of Land Use/Land Cover Dynamics Using Remote Sensing and Gis in Enugu Urban

Abstract

Urbanization is important in changing how we use and cover land around the world. One of the most notable effects of this trend is urban sprawl, which refers to the often chaotic and unplanned spread of cities into the nearby rural areas. This study assessed the spatial extent and pattern of urban sprawl in Enugu Urban between 2013 and 2025 using Remote Sensing (RS) & Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. The aim was achieved through the following objectives; to classify land use and land cover (LULC) and detect changes over time; to quantify the spatial extent and growth rate of urban areas; to analyze the change detection of urban sprawl; to identify the implications of urban sprawl on sustainable urban development in Enugu. The methodology involved acquiring Landsat 8 imagery (2013, 2017, 2021, and 2025) from Google Earth Engine, followed by preprocessing (geometric correction, boundary clipping, cloud and shadow masking), and supervised classification using the Maximum Likelihood algorithm into four classes: built-up, vegetation, water bodies, and bare land. Post-classification change detection was applied to quantify transitions and evaluate urban growth. The results revealed significant transformations: bare land declined by −169.64 km² (−60%) and vegetation decreased by −75.67 km² (−52%), while built-up areas increased by +173.26 km² (+299%) and water bodies expanded by +72.06 km² (+103%). Change detection showed that bare land and vegetation served as donor classes, feeding into the expansion of built-up and water bodies. These changes reflect rapid urbanization, infrastructural development, and environmental pressures, with implications for biodiversity loss, flooding, and land degradation. The study recommends sustainable urban planning, afforestation and urban greening, rehabilitation of degraded lands, and effective water resource management.