Urban Incursion into Rural Lands in Ogbomoso, Nigeria: Causes and Effects

This book focused on the causes and effects of urban incursion into rural lands in Ogbomoso, Nigeria. It employed maps derived from Landsat imageries and updated maps for 1914, 1949, 1978 and 2003, which were digitized and overlaid using Arcview (GIS) 3.2. The pattern, direction, as well as rate of growth of the city for the years aforementioned were determined using IDRISSI package. Structured questionnaires were administered to residents along the eight major roads that radiate from the city centre, covering the surrounding villages that fall within 10km radius from the centre of the city. The study revealed that there was a lateral expansion of the city especially along transportation routes. The major factors responsible for the growth of the city were urbanization and other socio - economic factors. In addition, the results on the analysis on effects of urban growth incursion from respondents' assessment in Ogbomoso showed haphazard development in Ogbomoso while in rural land there was reduction in farmland, imbalance in the ecosystem among others. In conclusion, this study has established that Ogbomoso is encroaching at increasing rate into her rural lands.