Trends in Urban Morphological Data Capture: A Review of Theoretical Perspectives on Utility of Geospatial Technology

Abstract

Increasing urbanisation and sub-optimal locations of urban amenities and utilities has resulted in many cities facing environmental, land use and socio-economic challenges.This can be mitigated by the implementation of cost-effective urban development plans and policies together with an in-depth understanding of the interactions existing between urban natural and human systems, an undertaking reliably aided by geospatial technologies notably Remote Sensing, Geographical Information Systems, Global Positioning System and Photogrammetry.Over the year, this has enabled geospatial technology to gain primacy in the urban study areas such as the modelling of urban morphology, development of urban plans and in the study of other urbanization phenomena such as heat balance, air quality and transportation management among others.However, the accuracy, validity and reliability of the by-products of such operations are dependent on the quality of the datasets used.This paper is therefore anchored on an understanding of urban morphology, factors determining its changes over time and demonstrated achievements of the utility of geospatial technology in the study of the same.The paper concludes with policy implications for the applications of the geospatial technology in urban studies.