Assessment of the Impact of Urbanisation on Land Use Changes in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Juliet Woko Onisosomuya¹, Otobong Jackson Okosong², Williams Chinedu Onuegbu³, Brown Ibama⁴

^1,2 Institute of Geosciences and Environmental Management, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

³ Lecturer, Institute of Geosciences and Environmental Management, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. 

⁴ Lecturer, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. 

Abstract

This study assesses the Impact of Urbanisation and Land Use Changes in Otuoke using Remote Sensing and GIS. The study also incorporated both primary and secondary data. The primary data were derived from a questionnaire survey using a purposive sampling technique to determine a sample size of 380 residents, and questionnaires were distributed across the 5 clusters in Otuoke. The secondary data was acquired from remotely sensed Landsat imageries EMT+ and OLI from the archives of the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The Maximum Likelihood Classification Algorithm was used to generate maps for change detection over the period of study (2001-2020). The survey results revealed that social services represented 58.96% of the sampled population as the cause of rapid urbanization in Otuoke. On the other hand, the results showed that commercialization and employment opportunities represented 13.7% and 13.4%. it further revealed that urbanization has its footprints on agriculture, housing and infrastructure. And that available land for Agriculture decreased with consequent increase in the cost of land and increase in rents, and vis-a-vis a decrease in household income. The findings also showed improvements in infrastructure. The study recommends that periodic studies should be carried out to monitor land use changes in fast-growing emerging cities and incorporate adequate urban planning mechanisms that will forestall perceived negative impacts. In the same vein Government is encouraged to ensure full implementation of existing land use policies in the state.    

Keywords: Urbanisation, Land use changes, Urban growth and expansion, Socio-economic challenges.

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