Temporal Assessment of Land Use Land Cover (LULC), Land Surface Temperature, and Urban Heat Island Changes in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria: A Case Study of 2017 and 2023

Land use and land cover (LULC) define how land is shaped by human activities and natural processes. As cities grow, forests shrink, farmlands expand, and concrete landscapes replace green spaces. These changes disrupt environmental balance, influencing land surface temperature (LST) and intensifying the urban heat island (UHI) effect, where cities trap more heat than surrounding rural areas. Between 2017 and 2023, Benin City experienced rapid urban transformation. Tree cover dropped from 82.06% to 70.16%, an 11.9% decline, primarily due to urban expansion and land conversion. Built-up areas grew from 9.49% to 15.29%, while cropland and rangeland expanded by 2.15% and 4.19%, respectively. These shifts fueled rising temperatures, with hightemperature zones (>35°C) increasing by 1.52% and moderate-temperature areas (30-35°C) shrinking by 6.11%. The UHI effect worsened as cooler zones (<- 0.45) decreased by 26.48%, while urban heat accumulation intensified, with moderate and high UHI areas expanding by 14.56% and 11.92%. Unchecked urban growth threatens environmental stability. Reversing these trends requires afforestation programs to restore lost vegetation, stricter urban planning to control expansion, and heat mitigation strategies such as reflective roofing and urban greenery. Sustainable land management and continuous monitoring through remote sensing technologies will help build a more resilient and livable Benin City.