Evidence of paucity of residential green spaces from the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria

A Biophillic city reconnects man with nature through green spaces which foster mental and physical productivity. The industrial revolution ushered in a wave of technological deterministic choices at the expense of environmental deterministic processes in the fashioning of cities. The background of this research is set in the urban residential fabric of the metropolitan city of Lagos. This study is relevant because in Lagos metropolis, residential areas have a land use zoning of 52% as opposed to 2.8% for urban open spaces. The research study aims to investigate the greenness index or NDVI of three selected residential estates each representative of the residential densities (low, medium, high) in metropolitan Lagos and its indications for the abundance or dearth of residential greenspaces. The sampling frame was gotten by multi-stage random sampling and the data collection tool used was high-resolution object-oriented imagery. The data analysis made use of geo-referencing ARCGIS and ERDAS IMAGINE software. The results show the Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI) values of the residential estates are low (<0.2) thus revealing residential areas with negligible vegetation. In conclusion, the dearth of green spaces which are physical observed within the residential fabric of Lagos city on a ground truth basis have been substantiated by the results of this research. Therefore, it is important to consider actions to improve the greenness index of the city as well as ensure that peri-urban settlements which are rapidly developing in Lagos city do so in a sustainable manner based on green principles.