The demands for growth and prosperity in developing countries have prompted Ogun State to initiate six economic development clusters oriented around its urban areas. However, little attention has been given to the environmental impact of these clusters in relation to temperature change and thermal consequences. Serving as a baseline study for the Abeokuta Cluster, whose implementation is still ongoing, this study analysed the surface urban heat island (SUHI) effects for 2003, 2013, and 2023 to determine whether variations in these effects exist over time. The study utilised satellite imagery from Landsat sensors and the cloud computing power of Google Earth Engine for data collection and analysis. Findings revealed that Abeokuta City experienced varying degrees of high SUHI effects, while the surrounding areas proposed for residential and industrial development in the Abeokuta Cluster showed low SUHI effects. The differences in SUHI effects within Abeokuta City across the years were found to be statistically significant (F_within = 3.158, p = 0.044; F_between = 5.065, p = 0.025), though this was not the case for the Abeokuta cluster as a whole. This study recommends urban planning strategies and policy interventions to combat SUHI effects in Abeokuta City, along with precautionary measures for the Abeokuta Cluster.

Rapid urbanization and climate impacts have raised concerns about the emergence and aggravation of urban heat island effects. In Africa, studies have focused more on big cities due to their growing populations and high climate impact, while mid-sized cities remain under-studied, with limited comparative insights into their distinct characteristics. This study therefore provided a spatiotemporal analysis of land use land cover change (LULCC) and surface urban heat islands (SUHI) effects in the Nigerian mid-sized cities of Akure and Osogbo from 2014 to 2023. This study used Landsat 8 and 9 imagery (2014 and 2023) and analyzed data via Google Earth Engine and ArcGIS Pro 3.4. Results showed that Akure’s built areas increased significantly from 164.026 km² to 224.191 km² while Osogbo witnessed a smaller expansion from 41.808 km² to 58.315 km² in built areas. This study identified Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and emissivity patterns associated with vegetation and thermal emissions and a positive association between LST and urbanization. The findings across Akure and Osogbo cities established that LULCC has different impacts on SUHI effects. As a result, evidence from a mid-sized city might not be extended to other cities of similar size and socioeconomic characteristics without caution.

This article assessed community participation in the provision of environmental sanitation infrastructure in Akure, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed for the study. Four residential zones: the traditional core, the transition zone, the peripheral zone and the public housing district were identified, this was with a view to showcasing the variation in the level of contributions and efforts of different communities based on the delineated areas towards the provision of environmental sanitation infrastructure in the study area. Twenty residential areas were identified across the residential zones of the study area out of which ten areas which represented 50% of the total areas were selected. Ten percent of the total number of buildings in the selected areas were subsequently sampled, resulting in the selection of 180 residents for questionnaire administration. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics with frequency used for univariate analysis and cross tabulation for bivariate and multivariate analysis as well as the use of chi-square for inferential statistics. Findings revealed that community participation did not play a leading role in providing environmental sanitation facilities in Akure, but that the government did. This shows that most of the environmental facilities in the area are provided by the government, thus revealing the overdependence of the residents on the government for the provision of environmental sanitation infrastructure. Further findings revealed that most of the challenges faced in the study area in terms of providing environmental sanitation infrastructure had a significant influence on the provision of these facilities. Thus, the study showed that challenges significantly hindered the provision of environmental sanitation facilities in the area.