Monitoring the Ratio of Land Consumption Rate to Population Growth Rate in Gombe Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Rapid urban expansion causes a continuous ground sealing, sometimes with increasing rate of surface extent greater than population growth rate that jeopardize some ecosystem services. It is in this context that the paper sets out to apply remote sensing techniques to assess the ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate (LCR/PGR) in Gombe metropolis. QGIS was used in analyzing Landsat, impervious surface and population datasets to assess the urban trend and LCR/PGR between 2000 and 2015. The result appears that LCR/PGR show split trends, during 2000-2005 LCR/PGR stood at 1.2, indicating that the metropolis expanded outward. During 2005-2010 LCR/PGR stood at 0.8, indicates that the Gombe metropolis became more compacted with little expansion. During 2010-2015 the LCR/PGR reached 1.8, indicates that, the metropolis expanded outward with the rate of ground sealing getting higher. The study therefore recommends vertical urban growth depending on the metropolis’s social, economic, and environmental traditions for better ecosystem services.