Towards Transforming Osogbo into a Sustainable City, The Remote Sensing Perspective

Abstract

This study has examined the impact of rapid urbanization on the sustainable development of Osogbo and demonstrated the use of remote sensing as a tool in achieving a sustainable city. Having identified urbanization in its entirety as a major determinant of whether or not a city will and can attain sustainability. Primary data through questionnaires administration was employed to obtain data on demography, occupation, waste management practices, etc, and three Landsat images (Landsat TM 5, ETM +7, and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS) covering Osogbo for the years 1998, 2002 and 2017 respectively were analyzed into different land use land cover classes to demonstrate the impact of rapid urbanization on the study area over space and time serving as the major source of secondary data. The research revealed that, over the years there has been a shift from the vegetative type of land cover to other types of land use particular among which are settlement and commercial land use types leading to a considerable increase in urban area and a decrease in vegetation as evident in the analyzed satellite images and the questionnaire report. Based on the questionnaire report and field survey, there seems to be some positive change in Osogbo, especially in terms of waste management, road networks, and education facilities, which can be attributed to the state government’s effort in making the capital city more conducive for residents and befitting as a state capital, but the city can still not be considered as been on the path to sustainability. Being the administrative and commercial center of Osun state, the city keeps increasing in population and as agreed by the respondents, there is the danger of overcrowding, destruction of green areas to erect buildings, increasing rate of unemployment, deforestation, and other population-related issues. These don’t in any way portray Osogbo as a sustainable city or one in the making. Also, the city’s energy sector is still highly dependent on fossil fuels (petroleum), and the transportation system needs improvement to reduce the city’s contribution to the greenhouse gas effect.