Spatial Analysis of Land Use Development Dynamics Within Kenya's Public Universities in the Devolved Framework

摘要

University land use development is dictated by policy frameworks adopted at micro and macro management levels. Decentralisation of Public universities is driving urbanisation and ecological transformations. Currently there are no studies done on the role of development planning policies on universities land use and resource utilisation in Kenya. To bridge this gap, the study sought to comparatively analyse implications of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes within Chuka and Karatina Universities Main campuses. Land use and cover change was taken as a proxy to understand land use developments across the two sampled campuses. To address this objective, the study used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing to analyse the dynamic interactions of the historical and present land uses between 2003 and 2015. Findings from the two case studies concluded that land use management is a product of university management council's decisions and the national land policy framework provisions. The different administrative and development policies between the two university managements contributed to the varied land use patterns and management typologies. There is a need to develop a University Land Use Spatial Data Base (ULUSDB) to inform planning and development of land and related resources.