The Controls of Household Mobility in Enugu Metropolitan Area, Nigeria

Abstract

A household chooses where to relocate in an urban area for variety of reasons especially bothering on housing and environmental conditions. Since there is a spatial differential in housing and environmental conditions in the urban areas, the direction of this movement equally varies spatially. This has implications for urban planning and administration. This paper therefore examined through household survey, the factors that control intra-urban movement in Enugu metropolitan area using a random sample population of 489 urban households. Analysis was done using simple percentages. The result showed that 383 households did move atleast once. The prime factors found to have overwhelmingly induced movement are insecurity, low power supply, dirty environment, noise pollution, quest for education, bad road network, poor housing and flooding in decreasing order of importance. The paper concludes that stakeholders in urban administration should take cognizance of these parameters which influence the urban housing environment.