Factors Affecting Physical Development of Residential Layouts in Asaba Metropolitan Region of Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

In the absence of functional masterplans in most cities in Nigeria, residential schemes without accompanying statutory planning regulations and standards are now largely being used to promote urban development activities in Asaba metropolitan region.  Such private and community layouts are relied upon heavily by various town planning authorities in the region in assessing applications for planning permit.  Adopting a trend study of buildings in both government and community and or private layouts as represented by the number of registered building plans in Asaba Area Planning Office between 1997 and 2007 the total number of registered building plans was collected and analyzed.  Based on the observed significant differences in the rate of physical development between government and community/private layouts, building developers, staff of the planning authority, staff of the ministry of lands, surveys and urban development, as well as, the general public were surveyed for the factors responsible for the observed variations using a designed questionnaire.  Collected data were then analyzed using simple statistics and time-series analysis.  The findings reveal that timing of development and management issues rather than lack of access roads, basic infrastructure and social services, disturbances from community youths and leaders, bureaucracy in the approval of building plans, as well as lack of security, were largely responsible for the preference of community or private layouts by prospective developers.  Based on these findings the paper recommends that planning authorities in Nigeria need to be restructured to attain greater level of autonomy, openness, transparency, competitiveness and effectiveness in all its operations if they are to effectively cope with the challenges of sustainable development in a transitional urban society like Nigeria.  A paradigm shift in development control approach was also canvassed.