The rapid urban development in Enugu metropolis has brought about heightened residential construction within formally established housing estates, which has different effects on vegetation retention and landscape design. While it is expected that public housing projects will incorporate useful green components, it remains uncertain how thoroughly green cover is integrated into the layouts of these estates. This study presents a comparative assessment of urban green cover in selected public housing estates in Enugu metropolis using a case study approach supported by satellite imagery and descriptive spatial analysis. Five estates were examined, focusing on defined residential clusters to ensure spatial precision. The visual proportional assessment was utilized to assess the extent, distribution, and structural integration of vegetation in each estate. The results indicate a noticeable variation in greenery across the estates. High-density layouts were characterized by limited and dispersed vegetation, predominantly found within private properties. Conversely, larger plot estates revealed a moderate level of greenery, but this was mainly driven by individual plot development rather than collective community organization. The estate adjacent to major vegetated corridor showed the highest green continuity due to its spatial relationship with the surrounding landscape. Across all cases, green infrastructure was predominantly private and weakly structured within estate-wide planning frameworks. Vegetation presence appeared to depend more on plot allocation and adjacency conditions than on deliberate ecological design. The study highlights the need for structured green infrastructure integration within residential layout standards. By demonstrating the effectiveness of accessible satellite-based visual assessment, the research provides a practical framework for monitoring green cover dynamics in resource-constrained urban planning contexts.
Ogbuefi et al. (Sun,) studied this question.