Volume 13, Issue 1, January 2015, Pages 243–248
Afolabi Francis Fatusin1
1 Department of Geography and Planning Sciences, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Ondo State, Nigeria
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
In recent periods urban development has been vigorous and unsustainable in Nigeria. By using a combination of analytical and evaluative techniques this study investigated the reason for this phenomenon and made suggestions on ways of making Nigerian cities more livable. The study discovered that despite several policies and programmes of the successive governments in Nigeria on urban development such as the promulgation of planning laws like the Town and Country Planning ordinance of 1946, Land Use Act to control issuance of permits for housing construction, The Urban and Regional Planning Act to streamline the responsibilities of each level of government on physical planning and preparation of Physical Development plans such as Master plans, Layout plans and Land Use plans, Urban Renewal plans, Zoning of land use, and other Development control principles, which can be classified as policy issues, urban degeneration has continued to increase. The study attributes this to massive population increase in the urban areas, For example the residents of urban centers in Nigeria in 1950 were less that 15% of the population and by 1975, and this proportion rose to 23.4% and in year 2000 was 43.3%. Nigerian urban population growth rate of 4.8% annually was markedly higher than growth rate of 1.2% in Developed countries. This has created several problems some of which are expansion of squatter settlements, increased poverty and a widening gap between the rich and poor, growing insecurity and rising crime rates, inadequate and deteriorating building stock, services and infrastructure. The study therefore recommends that Rural-urban drift will continue to increase in Nigeria, in the absence of any clear cut policy on rural - urban migration. Moreover there should be appropriate implementation and monitoring of master plans for major towns where they exist and the preparation and implementation of new ones where they are non-existent or out of date.
Author Keywords: Urban Development, Planning, Nigeria.
Afolabi Francis Fatusin1
1 Department of Geography and Planning Sciences, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Ondo State, Nigeria
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
In recent periods urban development has been vigorous and unsustainable in Nigeria. By using a combination of analytical and evaluative techniques this study investigated the reason for this phenomenon and made suggestions on ways of making Nigerian cities more livable. The study discovered that despite several policies and programmes of the successive governments in Nigeria on urban development such as the promulgation of planning laws like the Town and Country Planning ordinance of 1946, Land Use Act to control issuance of permits for housing construction, The Urban and Regional Planning Act to streamline the responsibilities of each level of government on physical planning and preparation of Physical Development plans such as Master plans, Layout plans and Land Use plans, Urban Renewal plans, Zoning of land use, and other Development control principles, which can be classified as policy issues, urban degeneration has continued to increase. The study attributes this to massive population increase in the urban areas, For example the residents of urban centers in Nigeria in 1950 were less that 15% of the population and by 1975, and this proportion rose to 23.4% and in year 2000 was 43.3%. Nigerian urban population growth rate of 4.8% annually was markedly higher than growth rate of 1.2% in Developed countries. This has created several problems some of which are expansion of squatter settlements, increased poverty and a widening gap between the rich and poor, growing insecurity and rising crime rates, inadequate and deteriorating building stock, services and infrastructure. The study therefore recommends that Rural-urban drift will continue to increase in Nigeria, in the absence of any clear cut policy on rural - urban migration. Moreover there should be appropriate implementation and monitoring of master plans for major towns where they exist and the preparation and implementation of new ones where they are non-existent or out of date.
Author Keywords: Urban Development, Planning, Nigeria.
How to Cite this Article
Afolabi Francis Fatusin, “URBAN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN NIGERIA: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES,” International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 243–248, January 2015.
