Spatial analysis of urban green spaces in an indigenous african city

Green spaces are vegetation areas in urban landscapes, including forests, parks, gardens, wetlands and street trees. Their loss has great consequences for the aesthetic, recreational, economic and human health value and sustainability of urban environments. The literature on urban green spaces has focused on locations and effects on human well-being with limited attention to the spatio-temporal patterns of green spaces. Ibadan is Africa’s largest traditional city with a long history of green spaces which has reduced over the years, thus providing a suitable environment for this research. This study was, therefore, designed to analyse the spatio-temporal patterns in Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. Cloud free Landsat Imageries (LI) of 1972, 1984, 2000 and 2015 were obtained from www.Glovis.com. Normalised Difference Vegetation Index threshold of 0.2-0.8 was used in identifying green spaces from the processed LI. The map of Oyo State, Nigeria sourced from the State Valuation Department was superimposed on the LI to identify a total of 104 localities. The change detection method was used to map the changes in green spaces, while Global Moran’s-I was used to analyse its temporal pattern. The green spaces declined by 38.0%, 62.2% and 61.5% between 1972-1984, 1984-2000, and 2000-2015, respectively. In 1972 (I: 0.348091), the green spaces were principally clustered in Bodija, Elewura and Academy neigbourhoods. In 1984 (I: 0.452642), 2000 (I: 0.313010) and 2015 (I: 0.229712). There is an uneven spatial distribution of green spaces in the city. There is a need for policy intervention to reduce the adverse loss of green spaces and consequent effect on the environment.