Residential land use patterns and housing characteristics in Akure, Nigeria

Abstract

Housing is a status symbol as well as a protection from the environment. This article looks at the pattern of residential land use and different types of housing in Akure, Nigeria. The older, central areas of the city have the worst housing and the poorest indigenous population live there; the housing estates with higher standards of provision on the outskirts of the city attract the professional, higher earning newcomers. The state government needs to devise an appropriate planning strategy for the city which will take account of its new responsibilities as state capital.