Urban Growth and Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics in the Municipality of Ziguinchor, Senegal, West Africa : A Remote Sensing Approach
Papa Diene Faye
*
Higher Institute for Agricultural and Rural Training (ISFAR), Alioune Diop University, Bambey, Senegal, Interdisciplinary Doctoral School, Senghor University, Alexandria, Egypt and Regional Postgraduate School for the Management of Tropical Forests and Territories, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Fatoumata Yattara
Regional Postgraduate School for the Management of Tropical Forests and Territories, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo and Climate Change and Land Use, WASCAL CCLU, KNUST, Ghana.
Seydina Mouhamed Dieng
Higher Institute for Agricultural and Rural Training (ISFAR), Alioune Diop University, Bambey, Senegal.
Yero Alassane Sow
Higher Institute for Agricultural and Rural Training (ISFAR), Alioune Diop University, Bambey, Senegal.
Abdoul Moujib Ndiaye
Higher Institute for Agricultural and Rural Training (ISFAR), Alioune Diop University, Bambey, Senegal.
Souleymane Ngouda Dione
Higher Institute for Agricultural and Rural Training (ISFAR), Alioune Diop University, Bambey, Senegal.
Omar Cisse Faye
Regional Postgraduate School for the Management of Tropical Forests and Territories, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Urbanisation is a major driver of landscape transformation in West Africa, resulting in the gradual conversion of natural areas into built environments and the degradation of ecosystem services. In Ziguinchor, this process is reflected in the continuous expansion of built-up areas at the expense of vegetation cover, while knowledge of long-term Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) dynamics remains limited. This study aimed to map the LULC classes of the Municipality of Ziguinchor, analyse their spatio-temporal dynamics between 1986 and 2026, and assess the principal landscape transformations associated with anthropisation and the conversion of landscape units.
The study used a remote-sensing approach based on Landsat imagery from the TM, OLI, and TIRS sensors, processed through supervised classification in ENVI Classic 5.3 and QGIS. LULC changes were analysed using transition matrices, the annual vegetation loss rate, and the anthropisation index. The results show a substantial increase in built-up areas, from 1,252.8 ha in 1986 to 1,992.6 ha in 2026, while vegetated areas decreased from 577.44 ha to 421.92 ha over the same period. The analyses also indicate increasing human-induced landscape transformation and declining stability of vegetation formations, which were predominantly converted into urban areas. These findings provide a basis for integrating higher-resolution satellite data, applying machine-learning methods, and assessing the effects of urbanisation on ecosystem services to inform sustainable land-use planning and the conservation of green spaces in the Municipality of Ziguinchor.
Keywords: Urbanisation, land use and land cover, remote sensing, Landsat, anthropisation, vegetation loss, urban expansion.