Expansion of Gombe and land use - Land cover changes (2000-2020)

Abstract

Urban sprawl is a result of population growth and human activities such as industrialization and rural-to-urban migration that alter local and regional land use and land cover (LULC) patterns. The purpose of this article is to deduce and forecast the urban sprawl scenario in Gombe metropolis using Landsat satellite data. The collected data was geospatially analyzed to generate landuse and landcover maps, which were then used to forecast future LULC using a CA-Markov model. The results indicate that Gombe metropolis covered 13.812 km² in 2000 and expanded rapidly to 44.105 km² between 2000 and 2020. Furthermore, the results indicated that the metropolis would continue to sprawl at a rate of 3.48% per year, resulting in 77.623 km² of urban land use in 2030. Finally, it is recommended that the government encourage more urban studies that take socioeconomic factors into account in order to ensure proper future planning, growth, and development of the Gombe metropolis.