Marital Status and Crowding Intensity
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Date
2013-09-23
Authors
Iweka, A. C.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Art and Architecture, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
In Nigeria, crowded housing is one of the housing stresses that bother policy-makers and housing authorities. This study examines the crowding levels in seven marital status categories among the occupants of Lagos State Development and Property Corporation’s apartments. The focus is on the capacity of an apartment’s internal spaces to meet the sleeping needs of households in different marital arrangements. A case study of four housing estates was purposively selected among Lagos State Development and Property Corporation’s multifamily categories, with a population of 7,764 apartments. A sample of 7.5% (582) was chosen using stratification and systematic random techniques. A pretested questionnaire instrument was used to collect the relevant demographic data of occupants. The occupants in different marital arrangements were grouped into three: households that harboured one to two occupants; households that harboured three to five occupants; and households that harboured six or more occupants. The result shows that households containing three to five persons were the most dominant in all apartment types while households that contain six or more persons were very few. Generally, the result showed no substantial disparity in the incidence of crowding among households of various marital classifications in different apartment types. The link between “Separated” and “Divorced” was revealed, as both types were not found among respondents living in two-bedroom apartments. The number of occupants in the “just single” and “married” categories were high compared to others. These results are significant for policies regarding occupancy, crowding and design of Lagos State Development and Property Corporation’s apartments.
Description
Staff publications
Keywords
Crowding , Density , Dwelling density , Marital status , Household composition , Multifamily apartments , Research Subject Categories::TECHNOLOGY::Civil engineering and architecture
Citation
Iweka, A. C. O. (2013). Marital Status and Crowding Intensity: The Case of Multifamily Apartments in Lagos, Nigeria. International Journal of Architecture and Urban Development, 3(4), 35 – 40.