Abstract

Provision of quality learning environment is crucial to staff and students of any university. One of the most important parameters in planning and design of a campus is appropriate selection of land surface to develop green areas. This study identified and mapped land use-land cover distribution with emphasis on green area network in Ahmadu Bello University main campus, Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria. Linkages are key characteristics of green area and are formed by natural or man-made structures such as roads, pedestrian walkways, drainage ways and lake corridors. The study used Geo eye satellite image of the study area for 2009 to generate the land use-land cover and the green area coverage for future planning and monitoring and how they related with space on the campus. Green area covered a total of 618.57 ha (29%), commercial area covered 21.3 ha (1%), administrative area covered 42.66 ha (2%), academic area covered 319.95 ha (15%), recreational area covered 21.3 ha (1%) and open spaces accounted for 1109.16 ha (52%). The study also revealed that there was no particular order in which the green area within the campus was arranged.

Key words: Green area, planning, remote sensing, geographical information system (GIS).