ABSTRACT
The utilization of land in urban environments not only shapes the built environment but greatly changes and influences how people live and move. This therefore necessitates the need to investigate the land use and land cover changes to ensure sustainable development and efficient planning of cities. In this paper remotely sensed data from Landsat imageries of 1998, 2008, 2018, and 2023 were used together with GIS to analyze the spatial distribution of land use changes across the different time periods. The results indicated an increase in built up area and a decrease in bare land area between the years 1998 and 2023. During this period vegetation land was increasing slowly and began to decline steadily in 2008. This study provides a basis for effective urban planning and sustainable development strategies in the city of Blantyre.
