The Pull Factors of Intra-Urban Residential Mobility in Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

The paper takes a critical look at the push factors of intra-urban residential mobility in Calabar. Push factors are defined as those which operate to induce or encourage households to change their residence in the city. The paper notes that changing of residence by urban households in Western cities is a common experience. But in cities of the developing countries, it is rare because of severe handicap imposed by limited stock of housing. Twelve push factors were identified as being very crucial in the analysis. They include dislike for housing occupied, dislike for type of people in the neighbourhood, family composition, eviction notice, house rent, etc. The objective of the paper was to establish the relative importance of these twelve factors and find their underlying dimensions. Data were extracted from a questionnaire survey of 874 random sample of urban households in Calabar, in which 471 households were seen to have moved at least, once. The data were subjected to Principal Component Analysis. Five components were extracted; force or eviction, neighbours, house-type, exterior appearance of dwelling, and family composition. The paper concludes that public agencies must take into consideration these maladies in the urban housing market.