Spatial Analysis of Urban Growth in Kazaure Local Government Area of Jigawa State, Nigeria

This study utilized LandSat TM of 1988 and LandSat ETM imageries of 1999 and 2007 of Kazaure Local Government Area of Jigawa State in Nigeria. These were integrated into a GIS environment to analyze urban growth pattern of the area using post-classification change detection approach. Moreover, structured questionnaires were administered using both stratified and systematic random sampling to obtain information on landuse change in the area. Findings revealed that population growth and expansion of economic activities have resulted into the expansion of the built up area from 12.2% in 1988 to 13.5% in 1999 and 29.7% in 2007. In addition, the bare surface has decreased tremendously over the years from 34.2% in the year 1988 to 18.4% in the year 1999 and finally to 4.1% in the year 2007. The GIS analysis and the descriptive statistics from the questioaire survey observed rapid urbanization in Kazaure from 1988 to 2007.