Assessing Spatio-Temporal Change of Urban Expansion on Vegetation Cover -A Case of Kigali City

Rapid urban growth has become one of the key global drivers of land-use change, significantly impacting the natural environment, particularly vegetation cover. This research focused on quantifying and analyzing the spatial and temporal change of urban growth and its consequent effects on the city’s vegetation cover, assessing the loss and degradation of vegetation cover, and identifying the factors contributing to changes in land use and vegetation. The research problem was the limitation in the way of understanding the spatiotemporal changes in vegetation cover due to urban growth in Kigali city. Therefore, this research was focused on the main objective which was to assess the spatiotemporal change of urban expansion on vegetation cover, a case of Kigali city. Specific objectives were: assessing the driving factors of urban expansion in Kigali city, to analyze the variation change in vegetation cover in Kigali city over twenty-four years and to examine the relationship between urban expansion and vegetation loss in Kigali city. The methods used were library research by reading different books, papers and journals, which helped the researchers to do literature review. Household surveys helped to understand how urban expansion impacts local residents' access to green spaces, environmental changes, and their general perceptions of vegetation loss. Satellite imagery from multiple time frames, processed using advanced GIS and remote sensing techniques, were used to analyze land use/land cover changes, with a focus on vegetation loss and the spatial-temporal dynamics of urban growth. Key informants' interviews provided in-depth, qualitative insights that complemented quantitative data from satellite imagery and GIS analysis. The results provided detailed maps of urban sprawl and vegetation cover changes in Kigali, with a focus on highlighting areas most vulnerable to degradation. Different main drivers of urban change such as population growth, economic development and rural-urban migration have been discussed. To sum up, the study found a significant decrease in vegetation cover over the past 24 years, a percentage of 90% caused by vegetation loss such as urban expansion, deforestation and poor urban planning, while a smaller percentage of 10% noted some efforts to increase vegetation through reforestation and green infrastructure projects land use and zoning regulation and the relationship between urban expansion and vegetation cover has shown that if urban growth is done in a sustainable way vegetation cover can be protected