Architecture

This study evaluates the residential environments of fi ve low-income and three medium-income public housing estates in Lagos, Nigeria. The specifi c objectives were: to appraise the physical characteristics of residential buildings in the estates; to examine the socioeconomic characteristics of the residents; to determine the relative levels of residents ' satisfaction; and to analyse the relationship between the physical characteristics and residents ' satisfaction. The methodology involves an expert rating appraisal conducted by four evaluators and a survey of residents ' satisfaction. Ten performance criteria were developed and used in assessing the characteristics of the residential environments. Data relating to residents ' satisfaction were obtained by means of structured questionnaire administered on a systematic sample of 806 household heads, from a sampling frame of 8060 housing units. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed a gap in quality between the medium-and low-income estates. The results also showed that 62 per cent of the physical characteristics of the residences are highly correlated with residents ' satisfaction (r = 0.62). This buttresses the signifi cance of the physical characteristics of residences in determining the level of residents ' satisfaction. Such information will enhance the skills of architects and housing administrators to ascertain specifi c actions that can maximize more satisfactory housing provisions and minimize dissatisfaction as much as possible.

Studies which confirmed the huge urban housing and infrastructure deficits in Lagos, Nigeria have often considered urban housing in isolation from its infrastructure. This paper analysed the link between infrastructure development and sustainable housing through the comparative case-studies of three housing sectors in Lagos megacity. The study stressed the importance of infrastructure to human and economic development, with the objective of determining the sustainability of urban housing development in the context of neighbourhood infrastructure provision in the study area. It analysed the state of physical and social infrastructure especially as they relate to urban housing, distinguishing between public, organized private and popular housing sectors. Primary data were obtained from an ongoing research project on the Lagos megacity, complemented by secondary data from related literature. The paper identified the associative factors for the housing deficit and those implicating deficiencies in infrastructure development, to include: one-off and ad-hoc approaches to housing problems; inappropriate implementation of housing and urban policies; inaccessibility and high costs of lands; under-investment in infrastructural expansion; poor maintenance and upgrading culture; systemic failures in mortgage schemes for home-ownership; and problems related to urban governance. The paper offered recommendations of options to consider in addressing the issues of housing and infrastructure deficits. It concluded on the need for housing developments that enhance mixed neighbourhoods, cost-efficient infrastructure management, and an integrated approach to resolving the deficit challenges in the built environment.

1 ABSTRACT Urban design has been described as being 'about the making of better places for people'; therefore the growing trend of natural and human-induced disasters should be areas of key concern to urban designers and other built environment professionals. Earthquakes, typhoons, landslides, flooding, explosions, and other disasters related to global climate change have increased in frequency and intensity. This paper explores the links between urban design and urban disasters-that is, disasters that directly or indirectly impact the urban realm. It identifies and attempts a categorization of disasters, with reference to their urban character. It reflects on a number of questions, and attempts to find answers to these from the literature and through lessons gleaned from the archival records of past urban disasters. The key questions include: What is the role urban design in urban disasters? Are there ways that urban designers can be trained to meet the increasing need for disaster-preparedness and disaster-mitigation? What lessons can urban designers learn from urban disasters? The conclusion is drawn to inform further research and policy-making in the context of a developing nation like Nigeria.

Gated communities (GCs) represent an emergent urban pattern in many cities of the world and a key debate facing an urbanising globe. This study examined the sustainability potential and possible segregating tendencies of GCs, with a view to ascertaining their future role in the urban fabric of Lagos, Nigeria. The paper explored the 'roots' and 'fruits' of gated communities, reviewing the literature on their forms, typologies, driving factors, and contemporary debates on whether this increasing privatisation of collective spaces enhances neighbourhood cohesion or encourages social segregation. The study used a case-study approach to collect primary data through field observations and qualitative in-depth interviews with eighteen (18) residents of four (4) purposively selected gated estates out of twenty (20) estates identified from a preliminary mapping exercise. The qualitative data were subjected to content analysis. Findings show that while GCs exhibited some common features, there were distinctions in terms of both the environment and perception of the residents with respect to gated living. There appeared to be prospects for the viability of gated living as a sustainable urban form in Lagos. The paper concluded on a perspective of the potential of gating being harnessed to enhance social sustainability. Conference Theme: Sustainability and Urbanism.

This paper explored through a literature review, the domains of research in Architecture and the nature of doctoral research, with a view to contributing to the evolving research agenda in the Nigerian context. The research method involved a descriptive and thematic analysis of the titles and abstracts of completed doctoral theses in Architecture in Nigeria, in the last 26 years (1990-2015), complemented by semi-structured interviews with six key informants. The study revealed an emphasis on Housing-related topics (34%) relative to other research modules, such as' History and Theory' (20%) and 'Design and Production' (18%). It also reflected the limited coverage and scope of current research, relative to the global terrain, as evidenced in the article titles and contents of 45 Architecture-related Journals. The results of the interviews indicated the strong influence of supervisors' areas of interest in the choices of thesis titles. It highlighted reasons for the perceived focus on Housing, which reflect its unique place and multidisciplinary nature. It concluded that extending the boundaries of architectural research at the doctoral level could be beneficial to the discipline and profession in Nigeria in order to align with global trends, while keeping cognizance of the local contexts.

The quest for housing transformation by the occupants of public housing in many urban centers in Nigeria has been attributed to some factors which reflect users ' socio-economic and cultural preferences. This study therefore examined User-Initiated Transformation (UIT) in selected low-income public housing estates in Lagos, Nigeria with a view to identifying significant factors influencing such transformation. Through a questionnaire survey, the study employed a systematic sampling method to select 315 housing units out of 8938 units from 3 purposively selected estates namely: Abesan (156 units), Isolo (128 units), and Iponri low-income estates (31 units). Using descriptive statistics and factor analysis, the study identified four major groupings of factors that determined public housing transformation in the study area. Group 1 relates to the upgrading of housing for aesthetic reasons or to meet social status or modern trends (Principal component analysis value (PCA) = 26.271%; relative significant index (RSI) value = 0.839). Group 2 relates to users' dissatisfaction with the original plan and layout (PCA = 44.162%; RSI values = 0.833, 0.888 and893). Group 3 expresses the level of dissatisfaction with some aspects of the housing (PCA = 60.483%; RSI value = 0.905), Group 4 relates to economic motivations such as: Home-based enterprises (HBE) (PCA value = 75.547%; RSI values = 0.822 and 0.938). The two highest ranking reasons for UIT were that transformation allows households to adjust their housing at their own pace and within their cost limit (RSI = 0.938), and that the transformed house better suits residents' tastes (RSI = 0.905). The findings showed that the understanding of the nature and influence of these factors is a necessary prerequisite for developing effective public housing delivery policies. The study underscores the need to consider relevant determinants emanating from the end-users for improving and developing public housing in Nigeria.

This paper examines the housing and neighbourhood quality of public housing in Lagos, Nigeria. It describes the nature and characteristics of the housing; and reports findings from a survey research on public housing in the study area. A survey of eight purposively selected public housing estates (five low-income and three medium-income estates) was conducted to evaluate the housing quality and neighbourhood infrastructure and identify areas of vulnerability to future public health hazards. The paper identifies and discusses the quality indicators and causes of inadequacy in the selected housing estates. The assessment of the conditions and quality of housing and neighbourhood environment in each of the estates was conducted by means of penalty scoring. Blocks of houses in the low-income estates reported significantly lower levels of housing and environmental quality than houses in the medium-income estates. Based on housing condition alone, approximately 34 per cent of all the hous...

This paper is based on an evaluation of public housing provision through the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC), which is utilized as a case study to examine and discuss the legacy and challenge of public housing provision in Lagos, Nigeria. The paper reviews the existing literature on public housing and the role of the state, including an overview of housing research in Nigeria. It describes the context of Lagos, as an emerging megacity. It also examines housing development through the LSDPC which was established in 1972 as the government institution for public housing provision. Specific attention is given to housing during the first civilian administration (1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983) which emphasized low-income housing. The period represents the most dynamic in the legacy of public housing provision in Lagos State. Primary qualitative data was derived from structured interviews conducted on key officers of the corporation. Quantitative data was obtained through questionnaire administration on a systematic sample of 806 household-heads from a sampling frame of 8,060 housing units, based on a purposive sample of eight LSDPC estates. However, the survey shows residents responding satisfactorily to the physical and social environments of their housing. The majority perceived access to their housing to be equitable and the housing density of their blocks and estates to be tolerable; and about 60 percent reported satisfaction with their estates and apartments. These findings are at variance with the popular notion of public housing as both physically inadequate and socially inequitable. The paper in conclusion makes a case for mixed public housing schemes, given enhanced institutional frameworks, innovative public-private partnerships and home-ownership schemes. The tendency toward total neglect of low-income housing provision is considered inequitable and undesirable.

He obtained a BSc degree, with First Class Honours in 1983, MSc degree in 1985 and PhD in 2006 all from the Department of Architecture at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. His post-doctoral research interests include housing and urban design, sustainable housing and architecture, housing and health, building evaluation, and architectural education. Married with three children, he is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), Association of Architectural Educators in Nigeria (AARCHES), and is a chartered architect, registered with the Architects ' Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON).

Studies which confirmed the huge urban housing and infrastructure deficits in Lagos, Nigeria have often considered urban housing in isolation from its infrastructure. This paper analysed the link between infrastructure development and sustainable housing through the comparative case-studies of three housing sectors in Lagos megacity. The study stressed the importance of infrastructure to human and economic development, with the objective of determining the sustainability of urban housing development in the context of neighbourhood infrastructure provision in the study area. It analysed the state of physical and social infrastructure especially as they relate to urban housing, distinguishing between public, organized private and popular housing sectors. Primary data were obtained from an on-going research project on the Lagos megacity, complemented by secondary data from related literature. The paper identified the associative factors for the housing deficit and those implicating deficiencies in infrastructure development, to include: one-off and ad-hoc approaches to housing problems; inappropriate implementation of housing and urban policies; inaccessibility and high costs of lands; under-investment in infrastructural expansion; poor maintenance and upgrading culture; systemic failures in mortgage schemes for home-ownership; and problems related to urban governance. The paper offered recommendations of options to consider in addressing the issues of housing and infrastructure deficits. It concluded on the need for housing developments that enhance mixed neighbourhoods, cost-efficient infrastructure management, and an integrated approach to resolving the deficit challenges in the built environment.

Urban design has been described as being 'about the making of better places for people'; therefore the growing trend of natural and human-induced disasters should be areas of key concern to urban designers and other built environment professionals. Earthquakes, typhoons, landslides, flooding, explosions, and other disasters related to global climate change have increased in frequency and intensity. This paper explores the links between urban design and urban disasters -that is, disasters that directly or indirectly impact the urban realm. It identifies and attempts a categorization of disasters, with reference to their urban character. It reflects on a number of questions, and attempts to find answers to these from the literature and through lessons gleaned from the archival records of past urban disasters. The key questions include: What is the role urban design in urban disasters? Are there ways that urban designers can be trained to meet the increasing need for disaster-preparedness and disaster-mitigation? What lessons can urban designers learn from urban disasters? The conclusion is drawn to inform further research and policy-making in the context of a developing nation like Nigeria.

It has been observed that majority of the people are living in poor housing quality or totally homeless in urban center despite all governmental policies to provide housing to the public. On the supply side, various government policies in the past have been formulated towards overcoming the huge shortage through several Housing Reform Programmes. Despite these past efforts, housing continues to be a mirage to ordinary Nigerian. Currently, there are various mass housing delivery Programmes such as the affordable housing scheme that utilize the Public Private Partnership effort and several Private Finance Initiative models could only provide for about 3% of the required stock. This suggests the need for a holistic solution in approaching the problem. The aim of this research is to find out the problems hindering the delivery of housing in Nigeria, its effects on housing affordability. The specific objectives are; to identify the causes of housing delivery problems, to examine different housing policies over years and to suggest way out for sustainable housing delivery. This paper also reviews the past and current housing delivery Programmes in Nigeria and analyses the demand and supply side issues. It identifies the various housing delivery mechanisms in current practice The objective of this paper therefore is to give you an insight into the delivery option for the sustainability of housing in Nigeria, given the existing delivery structures and the framework specified in the New National Housing Policy. The secondary data was obtained from books, journals and seminar papers The conclusion is that we cannot copy models from other nations but rather evolve workable models based on our socio-cultural background to address the huge housing shortage in Nigeria. Recommendations are made in this regard.

This study examined User-Initiated Transformation (UIT) in selected low-income public housing estates in Lagos, Nigeria with a view to providing information that could assist policy makers in more effective housing delivery. It employed a systematic sampling method to select 315 housing units out of 8938 units from 3 purposively selected estates for questionnaire administration, namely: Abesan (156 units), Isolo (128 units) and Iponri estates (31 units). The findings showed that 79.0% (233 out of 295 retrieved questionnaires) of respondents have transformed their houses one way or the other. The majority of residents (78.40%) engaged in transformation by slight adjustment, such as: painting, re-tiling, and installation of shading devices, burglar proof to openings, and fixtures and fittings. It was also observed that 5.28% transformed by addition of more spaces, 1.42 % by addition of doors and windows, 13.21% by addition of services, and 1.68% by total conversion; but there was no i...

This paper contributes to the pertinent discourse on mega-cities and urban sustainability, using Lagos mega-city as case-study. It is derived from the growing need to appreciate the wider implications of the mega-city phenomenon as a unique feature of contemporary urban change in the developing countries. This need is imperative in the context of Lagos, which has come into fresh limelight through recent flurry of research interests, as well as the initiation of plans for the Lagos Mega-City Project. The purpose of this study is to examine the essential links between the mega-city phenomenon and urban sustainability, with a view to informing policy and strategies for the sustainable development of Lagos mega-city. The research method is a case-study approach involving qualitative analysis of secondary data related to Lagos mega-city, and primary data from participant-observation. The introduction examines the global emergence of mega-cities and the forces driving them. This is follow...

Recent increases in poverty and inequity combined with rapid population growth in developing countries have created substantial pressures on housing provision. Housing supply shortages and the deterioration in the quality of the housing stock have become serious problems that need to be addressed in these countries. The non-consideration of relevant socio-economical parameters by organizations responsible for housing provision has been identified as one of the major reasons for the housing inadequacies and poor quality in most urban fringes of developing countries - Ibadan inclusive. On this position, paper examines the influence of socio-economic factors in the determination of housing quality in the urban fringes of Ibadan. This study identifies the urban fringes in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. The paper examines the causes and characteristics of the urban fringes in the assessment of housing quality. The paper identifies the critical factors causing the formation of urban fringe t...

Research into the Built Environment has engendered discourses that cover a range of issues including: economic, social-cultural, political, participatory and sustainability-related, at global and local levels. Evidences in the field in Nigeria however suggest that the knowledge-base of the built environment disciplines has been more uniand multithan trans-disciplinary in nature. This paper interrogates the narrow conceptualization of the built environment as primarily focusing on the aesthetics of form and space, to the exclusion of broader issues. It explores the question of what knowledge base the design disciplines such as architecture should be founded on. Based on a review of related literature, the paper distinguishes between transdisciplinarity, the confined territories of uniand sub-disciplinarity, and clusters of cross-, multi-, plurior inter-disciplinarity. It examines emerging environmental issues relating to the built environment that make the increasing demand for the t...

The literature on user-initiated transformation (UIT) of housing suggests the actuality of the phenomenon as an apparent trend in public housing estates in developing countries, despite the legal and planning implications, and the often negative official attitude towards it. Studies also highlight the significance of economic motivation in UIT. This paper therefore examines the resources for UIT in terms of the sources of finance, cost, and duration, as well as the process and challenges encountered. Systematic sampling method was employed to select 315 housing units from 8938 units in 3 purposively selected low-income estates (the largest) for questionnaire administration. Findings revealed that the main sources of finance for UIT were individual savings (36.8%) and Cooperative societies’ loans (35.8%); while 49.5% of respondents expended N400,000-600,000 to transform to their housing. There was also a significant relationship between cost of UIT and income level. More than 64% of ...

Gated communities (GCs) represent an emergent urban pattern in many cities of the world and a key debate facing an urbanising globe. This study examined the sustainability potential and possible segregating tendencies of GCs, with a view to ascertaining their future role in the urban fabric of Lagos, Nigeria. The paper explored the ‘roots’ and ‘fruits’ of gated communities, reviewing the literature on their forms, typologies, driving factors, and contemporary debates on whether this increasing privatisation of collective spaces enhances neighbourhood cohesion or encourages social segregation. The study used a case-study approach to collect primary data through field observations and qualitative in-depth interviews with eighteen (18) residents of four (4) purposively selected gated estates out of twenty (20) estates identified from a preliminary mapping exercise. The qualitative data were subjected to content analysis. Findings show that while GCs exhibited some common features, ther...