The City-Region Formation Patterns and Urban Spatial Density Using GIS-based Data

Elucidating the formation of city-regions, which is associated with networks of settlements and their spatial densities is crucial for the spatial distribution or arrangments of regional elements for regional sustainability. The current study, therefore, deployed GIS-based data to evaluate urban spatial density patterns of city-regions’ formation to support sustainable regional development planning and policies. Using the Abuja City-Region of Nigeria, the study deployed land cover maps of different temporal boundaries covering the city-region and adopted the concentric zone model of urban spatial patterns to calculate the spatial densities at the regional scale. Key findings showed that the urban spatial density of the city-region declined from Zone 1 to other Zones towards peri-urban of each settlement, except for Zone 5, which increased to Zone 6 from 1987 to 2002. Also, the urban density changes of the concentric zones between different temporal boundaries showed a decline from Zone 1 to Zone 9, except for the increase in change detection between Zone 8 and 9 from 2002 to 2017. The information derived from the current study is of importance to decision-makers in regional development planning and policies on the spatial distribution of regional elements and to reduce or eliminate future urban leapfrogging, especially in land demarcated for environmentally sensitive areas, including forest reserves, productive forestry, and intensive agriculture