The archaic methods of data collection, procession, analysis and presentation have been found to be inadequate and cumbersome. With the rapid population growth and the physical development constraints in Jimeta, there is a need to adopt a new method of handling spatial data to enhance effective planning and decision making process on land use. The essential feature of GIS have therefore been applied for the study of the distribution of the significant urban land use activities in Jimeta. The data requirements are in both spatial and non-spatial form. The spatial data are the map of Jimeta showing road network, land uses and the location of some important buildings. The non-spatial data are the information about locations as names of places, land uses, types of land use and wards. Instruments used in the study are in forms of hardware and software. The hardware components include a PC, GPS, printer and a scanner. The software are ArcView GIS and Corel Draw. The study identified the area coverage (in hectares and percentage) of seven land uses and 12 wards in Jimeta. The potentials of GIS in planning and decision making have also been demonstrated by detecting areas not served with particular a service. Proposals are therefore made for the provision of new health centers, police stations, fire service stations, banks, commercial areas, schools and recreational centers using the minimum service radius standards. The adoption of GIS technology in institutions and ministries dealing with land related issues is also recommended for planning and decision making process.
Blamah et al. (Thu,) studied this question.