A Geospatial Assessment of Campus Growth on the Urbanization of Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State Nigeria

This study examines the influence of campus growth on the urbanization of Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria, focusing on metropolitan urban sprawl. Utilizing both primary and secondary data, the research sources original data from the Ekiti State Office of the Surveyor General, which includes boundary point coordinates for three major institutions: Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti, Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), and Ekiti State University (EKSU). Complementary satellite imagery data were obtained from Landsat 7 ETM (2004), Landsat 8 OLI-TIRS (2014), and Landsat 9 OLI-TRIS (2024), with a resolution of 30 meters. A fundamental aspect is the identification of changes in Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) over time, analyzed through remote sensing and GIS methods using Landsat imagery from the founding years of the campuses. The methodology involved preprocessing steps such as mosaicking and photo editing, followed by image enhancement techniques like histogram equalization. Supervised classification, particularly Maximum Likelihood Classification, was employed to categorize land cover into built-up areas, vegetation, and water bodies across the years 1998, 2004, 2014, and 2024. Buffer zones of one, two, and three kilometers were created around each campus using ArcMap’s "Buffer" feature. The findings reveal that all three campuses significantly influence the local urban landscape, with ABUAD showing the most rapid expansion since its establishment. This study underscores the relationship between campus growth and urbanization dynamics in Ado Ekiti, emphasizing the need for ongoing monitoring and strategies to mitigate the effects of urban expansion in metropolitan areas.