Urbanization and its Effects on the Environment in Maiduguri Metropolis, Borno State, North East, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assesses the spatial growth and changes in land use in Maiduguri Metropolis and its effects on the environment. Landsat Multispectral Scanner, Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper + images for 1975, 1987, 1999 and 2012 respectively of the area were used in this research. Taking 1975 as base year, the images of the different dates (1987, 1999 and
2012) were resampled and processed to same pixel size (30m), and projected coordinate UTM system (Minna Datum, Clarke 1880 Ellipsoid of Zone 33). This method allowed flexibility of all the images to be in common processing ground and overlay. The generated maps and images of the study area were classified and analyzed. Supervised image classification was used to categorize different land uses and detects all the built-up areas. Two classes (built-up and others) were identified in the supervised image classification method (SICM) and also used to detect change in the area. The findings confirmed a sharp increase in the urban area due to large scale development on the natural drainages. The areal extent of the city has increased from 43km 2 in 1975 to 145.4km 2 in 2012 thus, aggravating environmental problems such as flash floods and inundation, poor solid waste disposal and urban heat island in the metropolis. The occurrence and the effects of the floods were found to be more devastating in areas where natural drainage networks existed but were replaced by residential buildings due to urban sprawl. The aspect of poor solid waste disposal on the other hand has been a general problem, in most parts of the metropolis, while the urban heat island is mostly experienced in the city center where there are large commercial and vehicular activities. The paper recommends for improved land use planning; raising awareness of the residents, providing more drainage and continued vulnerability mapping, improving the functionality and capacity of the agencies responsible for flood and solid waste management among others.