Analysis of Urban Growth Agents in Jos Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Jos metropolis is a mid-sized city under the pressure of urban growth. Timely and accurate assessments of urban growth scenarios and associated environmental impacts are crucial for urban planning, policy decision, and natural resource management. Four medium resolutions Landsat images (1984, 1991, 2003 and 2014) were used to derive urban land use/land cover change patterns. Non-built up account for 92.8% of the total landscape in 1984. After 30 years, Jos metropolis changed significantly, with a rapid urbanization at the cost of losing non-built up land. Builtup land increased significantly from 5.9% to 24.8% (1984-2014). The major factors responsible for the changing patterns of urban growth were analyzed based on community perception. The growth of Jos in the past 30years is obvious as 54.1% of the respondents view it as rapid, manifesting in increasing economic activities and expansion of urban areas. In the early period (before 1984), settlements in northern region - Angwa Rogo, Angwa Rukuba, Gangare and Tudunwada dominated by 29.4%, 23.5%, 30.6% and 18.8% respectively in terms of land development. This could be attributed to the presence of the University of Jos in the northern region which attracted students and individuals from every part of the country and also due to the fact that the central business district is situated in the northern region with various socioeconomic activities. Settlements that scored low in the early periods (Lamingo, Rantya and Rayfield) benefited from the wave of crises and unrest (from 2001-2010) in the areas mentioned earlier that result to shift in direction. The settlements had the highest rates of land development with a sharp increase of 60%, 51.8% and 57.6% respectively. The major problem of population growth identified is heavy traffic subduing every other problem with a count of 28.