Analyzing urban growth and land cover change scenario in Lagos, Nigeria using multi-temporal remote sensing data and GIS to mitigate flooding

Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub and one of Africa’s fastest-growing cities, has experienced remarkable urban growth due to rapid urbanization. The city has recently faced persistent urban flooding due to unsustainable growth and inadequate data for proper planning. Therefore, we analyzed urban growth and land cover change in Lagos, Nigeria, using multi-temporal datasets downloaded from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) at an interval of 10 years from 1990–2020. We employed the maximum likelihood classification and post-classification change detection to analyze the city’s urban growth and change dynamics. The study revealed three phases of growth in Lagos and a substantial increase in the city’s built-up area from 496 km2 in 1990 to approximately 860 km2 in 2000. This area increased further to 1113 km2 in 2010, and presently over 1256 km2. The result also revealed a substantial decrease in the city’s vegetation, water bodies, and bare soil by approximately 398 km2, 246 km2, and 115 km2, respectively, between 1990 and 2020. These changes contribute to urban flooding, the prominent natural and human-induced disaster in the city. Therefore, this study’s findings provided the historical and scientific data for the effective planning, management, and sustainable development of the city.