Urban landscape planning experience in Nigeria
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Date
1998
Authors
Oduwaye, A.O
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Abstract
Nigeria, a nation with a population of more than 88 million has about 30% of its population living in urban areas. This
proportion of the population in urban settlements has great implication on land-use planning and environmental quality. This is where it is desirable to examine the level of urban landscape planning in the country as this can give us an insight into the degree of land-use coordination and environmental quality in different parts of the country. The execution of landscape planning is under physical planning sectors of the various government agencies. This makes it unclear to identify the agencies responsible for landscape planning. The consequence of this is that there is no comprehensive approach to landscape planning. What is now being experienced is a piece-meal approach, under the supervision of landscape-related professionals such as architects, town planners, horticulturists, and engineers, amongst others. Also, the existing situation leads to con¯icting policies and implementation procedure. This paper discusses the conceptual framework for landscape studies, drawing conclusions to justify the method adopted in the study of urban landscape planning experience in Nigeria. There are also specific socio-economic, political, legal and administrative constraints facing landscape planning in the country. Nigerian landscape planning development history can be categorized into three periods, namely ± pre-colonial period dating before 1854, colonial period from 1854 to 1960 and the post-colonial period, from 1960 to the present time. Each of these periods has its distinct features though the first two fused together to produce a newly emerging Nigerian landscape development even though with greater colonial in¯uence. The paper also discusses the role of different levels of government, non-governmental organisations and individuals during these periods. It, however, makes suggestions on the need to encourage citizen participation, particularly the poor majority and the need for appropriate manpower. The problem of religion and culture are examined as these are major constraints outside the government machinery to formal landscape development in the country.
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Staff publications
Keywords
Urban landscape planning , Nigeria , Population , Urban areas , Research Subject Categories::TECHNOLOGY::Other technology::Environmental engineering
Citation
Oduwaye, A. O. (1998). Urban landscape planning experience in Nigeria. Landscape and Urban Planning, 43(1-3), 133-142.