Residential Location and Intra-urban Mobility in a Developing Country: Some Empirical Observations from Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

While rural-urban migration has been a major focus of studies in developing economies intra-city mobility has received very little attention. This article examines the locational pattern, and subsequent residential mobility, of new migrants in Benin City, Nigeria. The study shows that as a result of sentimental attachment to village of origin migrants from the adjoining rural region tend to have a bias in their city location for a sector of the city lying in the same direction with their village of origin and that this sentimental attachment reinforces the sectoral pattern of subsequent intra-urban mobility. The study observed a low rate of residential mobility, which even among those who have changed residence has not led to improvement in housing satisfaction. It also observed a pattern of out-migration from the inner zone of the city. The paper explores the policy impications of these.