ANALYSIS OF URBAN GREEN SPACE DEVELOPMENT SITE SELECTION USING GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGY: THE CASE OF HAWASSA CITY ADMINSTRATION

Abstract This study has examined aimed at identifying suitable sites for urban green space development in a case study Hawassa city. The researcher has used both primary and secondary sources Land sat satellite images of the study area was acquired for three years; 1992, 2007, and 2022. These images were obtained from United States Geological Survey (USGS).The primary data source was included field data that was collected with the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Satellite image and field observation. The secondary data source from Ethiopian central statistics agencies population data of study area, Ethiopian meteorological agencies temperature and rainfall data, SNNPS city plan office and information’s from written document and shape file of the town from Hawassa city administration. The rate of land use/land cover change with respect to urban green space for the period between three decade(1992 and 2022) was assessed using GIS tools and remote sensing techniques. The suitability analysis was done using GIS-based criteria analysis steps. The analysis reveals that since 1992 the green spaces, represented by wetland, bare land, grassland and cultivated land have been transformed into other land uses at annual rates of 16.54%, 6.73%, 10.80% and 72.84 % respectively. This has resulted in the shrinking of wetland, bare land, grassland and cultivated by 397.05%, 161.43%, 259.21 and 1748.18.8 % respectively. In contrary, built-up, forest land and water body have been highly expanded with an annual rate of 101.35%, 4.28%&1.27% and with a total area increase of 2432.41%, 102.73%&30.49 respectively. Moreover, based on GIS based mult -criteria analysis, 10.1% and 75.8 % of the study area was identified as most suitable and moderately suitable for green space development respectively.