Earth Observation (EO) for Sustainable Urbanisation in Africa: Case of Kumasi, Ghana

Sub-Saharan African cities are characterized by rapid population growth with related impacts on land use dynamics. Although African Governments have put in place policies and regulations catalysing sustainable urbanisation towards the SDGs and Africa Agenda 2063, their implementation is still facing many challenges. There is a need for timely and reliable data, and tools to monitor the spatial–temporal patterns of urbanization and its socio-economic and environmental impact for informed long-term decision making.DE Africa has developed useful urban growth monitoring tools based on medium resolution Earth observations. The current work used the Enhanced Normalized Difference Impervious Surfaces Index (ENDISI) derived from Sentinel-2 annual GEOMAD to assess the urban dynamics of Kumasi City in Ghana. Findings show that the city expanded by approximately 23%, and the trend would continue. The current study suggests that the use of medium resolution satellite images would be a resource efficient sustainable urban planning and monitoring tool.