Using Geospatial Information Technology in Natural Resources Management The Case of Urban Land Management In West Africa 英文参考文献.docVIP

Sensors 2008, 8, 607-619 sensors ISSN 1424-8220 ? 2008 by MDPI /sensors Full Research Paper Using Geospatial Information Technology in Natural Resources Management: The Case of Urban Land Management In West Africa Edmund C. Merem 1,* and Yaw A. Twumasi 2 1 2 Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University, 3825 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS 39211 USA, Tel: 601-432-6856, Fax: 601-432-6862. Department of Advanced Technologies, Alcorn State University, 1000 ASU Drive 360 Alcorn State, MS 39096-7500 * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: edmund.c.merem@ Received: 4 December 2007 / Accepted: 21 January 2008 / Published: 4 February 2008 Abstract: In the past several decades, Lagos Metropolis emerged as one of the fastest urbanizing cities in the West African Sub-region. In the absence of a regular use of geospatial information management systems, limited effort had been made to keep track of changes in the natural environment in the rapidly growing city for policy making in land administration. The ubiquitous energy radiated by the rapid urbanization rate in the area not only created unprecedented consequences by diminishing the quality of the environment and natural resources but it raises serious implications for land management in the region. The factors fuelling the land crisis in the area which are not far fetched consists of socio-economic, ecological and policy elements. To tackle these issues in a mega city, up-to-date knowledge would be required to capture and analyze land information trends. Such an effort will help manage the city’s expansion as well as infrastructure development through the right choices in planning and (spatial) designs using the latest tools in geospatial technologies of Geographic Information Systems GIS) and remote sensing. This study investigates the spatial implications