Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Green Infrastructure along the Urban-Rural Gradient of the Cities of Bujumbura, Kinshasa and Lubumbashi

This study analyses the dynamics of green infrastructure (GI) in the cities of Bujumbura, Kinshasa, and Lubumbashi. A remote sensing approach, combined with landscape ecology metrics, characterized this analysis, which was based on three Landsat images acquired in 2000, 2013, and 2022 for each city. Spatial pattern indices reveal that GI was suppressed in Bujumbura and Kinshasa, in contrast to Lubumbashi, which exhibited fragmentation. Furthermore, the values of stability, aggregation, and fractal dimension metrics suggest that Bujumbura experienced rather intense dynamics and a reduction in the continuity of its GI, while Kinshasa showed weaker dynamics and tendencies towards patch aggregation during the study period. In contrast, Lubumbashi exhibited strong dynamics and aggregation of its GI within a context of significant anthropization. The evolution of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index demonstrates a sawtooth pattern in the evolution of tall vegetation patches in Bujumbura, compared to a gradual decrease in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. It is recommended that urban growth in these cities should be carefully planned to ensure the integration of sufficient GI.