Urban planning and the control of urban physical growth in Nigeria: A critique of public impact and private roles

Abstract

This paper illustrates the fine spatial expression of regulatory controls through field visits, a survey of 364 systematically sampled homebuilders and interviews with customary land managers and key city officials in Sekondi-Takoradi. The research found that, development controls were hardly implemented and enforced, and that, public officials had largely acquiesced to the activities of chiefs and homebuilders who flout regulations without the fear of sanctions. This loss of legitimacy of planning ideals reflects the cultural dimension to the acceptance of centralized planning rooted in the experiences of the advanced world as well as the weak fragmented and poorly equipped land sector institutions. Therefore building institutional capacity and contextualizing planning ideals are key for managing rapidly growing cities in emerging economies. However, residential development initiated by state institutions on state lands was better planned than occurring on customary lands, hence suggesting the need for more innovative government interventions in the physical development process.