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A Geographic Information System Gis Assessment Of Urban Sprawl
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CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
The Urban Sprawl Debate
As urban
development takes place within Nigerian cities and around their fringes,
urban sprawl or the lack thereof will continue to be a by-product of
development practices and policies. Population increases and the
consequences of unplanned urbanization are directly related to recent
growth management practices that seek to influence the way in which
built-up land can proliferate. The pattern, density, and rate at which
built-up land develops are the basis for one contemporary debate: urban
sprawl versus urban growth. As a contemporary planning issue, the debate
over sprawl is framed by different disciplines and their understanding
of how and why urban areas grow. Although urban sprawl is a type of
urban growth, sprawl is dependent on the way in which development
occurs.
Issues related to Urban Sprawl
Sprawl has been criticized
for eliminating agricultural lands, spoiling water quality, and causing
air pollution (Allen et al 2003). As population increases, so does the
need for new housing, schools, and transportation networks. In the urban
world today, industrial, commercial, and residential districts are
markedly different from years past. Decentralization is a trend
indicative of urban sprawl and present day industrial, commercial, and
residential areas are no longer necessarily a part of the urban core
(Nechyba et al 2004). Rather, these types of development are often found
in low-density areas that are separated from the major urban area by
large tracts of homogeneous land. Hence, the needs for larger
transportation networks and in turn a greater dependency on automobiles,
which produce more air pollution. As new roads are put in place,
precious farmland is often left unprotected from commercial or
residential developers (Hathout 2002). The greater the imperviousness of
an area the more water runoff one can expect, which is the catapult for
water pollution (Wilson et al 2003). Without regulations on urban
growth, consequences of urban sprawl are likely to continue.
Visualizing Urban Sprawl
Before
the introduction of Geographic Information Systems, mapping any
phenomenon took an extremely long time. Maps produced through manual
cartography for comparison were planned well in advance of a due date.
Computer aided maps without GIS were very rudimentary and were not very
aesthetically pleasing to say the least. The availability of different
types of spatial data allows a GIS user to map virtually any phenomena
with a geographic dimension applied to it. In addition, large amounts of
data are processed before the creation of a map with much less work
than with manual cartographic techniques. With a GIS, maps can be
compared in a fraction of the time and can be done at variable scales
with ease.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]In Nigeria, the urban sprawl debate has closely paralleled urban growth trends over the past few decades. Many studies indicate that it is the pattern, density, and rate of new urban growth that create the appearance of sprawl. Population dynamics are often cited as a driving force behind urban sprawl. This thesis uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping and land cover change analysis, neighborhood statistics, community surveying, key-informant interviews with planners and developers, a ... Continue reading---
