MEASURING THE IMPACT OF URBAN GROWTH ON THE SUPPLY OF RESIDENTIAL AND AGRICULTURAL LAND IN THE URBAN FRINGES OF NASARAWA TOWN

MEASURING THE IMPACT OF URBAN GROWTH ON THE SUPPLY OF RESIDENTIAL AND AGRICULTURAL LAND IN THE URBAN FRINGES OF NASARAWA TOWN

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Proposed Background of the Study

In the last few decades, substantial growth of urban areas has occurred worldwide with population increase being one of the most obvious agents responsible for this growth (Araya and Cabral, 2010). The world urban population has increased from 0.73 billion in 1950; 1.51 billion in 1975 to 3.42 billion people in 2009, and is projected to double (6.29 billion) by 2050 (UNDESA, 2010). In Africa, the urban population is projected to be more than double its 2007 level of 373.4 million by 2030, and by 2050, there will be more than 1.2 billion African city dwellers (UN-HABITAT, 2008).

Urbanization leads to the outward expansion of cities and results in changes in land use and the dramatic effects are very clear in the cities and peri-urban areas. As the cities expand, the main zone of direct impact is the peri-urban area (Nsiah-Gyabaah, 2000), which are characterized by diverse uses of land, that often vary in relation to their functional linkages to urban and to rural sectors. Aguilar and Ward (2003), notes that peri-urban areas are transitional in nature and they become progressively more agriculture in orientation as one recedes from the urban centre to the rural areas due to diverse land uses.

The population here comprises heterogeneous groups including original residents, farmers, migrant residents, recreational land users, industrial users, natural resource users, investors, and speculators, developers, and builders (Thuo, 2010). Fringe zones associated with urban centres have become more numerous, larger and complex with rapid urbanization and the associated transition of large populations from rural to urban lifestyles. These complex fringe zones have strong interactions with the urban centre and characterized by similar physical, demographic, and occupational characteristics. A major difference is that in many cases, the fringe zone residents have varying access to urban services and facilities and more importantly, have only a limited voice in urban planning and development.

According to Olima (2003), rapid urban population growth goes with a lack of equivalent growth in urban land supply i.e. land is fixed in supply and does not increase with the increasing population. The pressure exerted by this increasing population tends to deprive other sectors of the needed land. Agricultural lands are the most affected by this rapid urbanization, as other land uses such as residential and commercial tend to dominate agricultural lands in competition for more space. As noted by Owusu and Agyei (2007), a key challenge of the urbanization process is the rapid conversion of large amount of prime agricultural land to urban land use (mainly residential, industrial, and infrastructural construction) in the urban fringes.

As the cities grow, their functions become diversified as well as their structure becoming complex. A city function which includes commercial, administrative and manufacturing also includes other functions that are carried out by the city but which are hitherto relegated to the background especially in the developed countries.  Among these functions lies agricultural function. It is known that agriculture is still active in cities of developing countries, hence the description of cities in the developing countries as “agro-villas (Hammond, 2002; Sullivan et.al, 2004). Although, the fact remains that the greater portion of the city inhabitants engage in non-agricultural activities, agriculture is much practiced by people at outskirts of cities.

According to Njoh (2003) and Macionis and Parrillo (2010), rapid urbanisation is always accompanied by numerous challenges as well as opportunities everywhere in Nigeria. While it creates job opportunities and markets for rural producers, it fuels rural-urban population movements. However, urban management and planning have not been able to cope with these realities as cities have largely developed outside the realm of formal planning provisions, thereby overwhelming governments’ ability to provide services and opportunities (Agbola and Olurin, 1998). It is pertinent to observe, however, that contemporary literature consistently highlight land use changes resulting from urbanisation (Tali et al., 2013; Sancar et al., 2009); impacts on the environment of the fringe (Su et al., 2012); inadequacy of service provision at the fringes (Yankson and Gough, 1999); excessive land consumption due to under-valuation of open space, (Carruthers and Ulfarsson, 2002). However, the forces which motivate the responses made in the fringe area to urban expansion and how urban management systems can respond to the challenges appear to have received little attention from planners and social scientists. Unlike the urbanisation experience of developed countries, urban development and growth in Nigeria is proceeding in a different cultural and socio-economic milieu (NITP, 2014). This seems to suggest that urban planning and management in Nigeria are need of innovations.

The rapid urban growth of Nasarawa has led to new development and expansion of the urban area into the hitherto village settlements at the fringe. The consequence of rapid urbanisation is the conversion of large tracts of land, previously used for agriculture to urban uses. The changes have intensified and are increasingly threatening the sustainability of the environment. It is in the light of this that this project measures the impact of urban growth on the supply of residential and agricultural land in the urban fringes of Nasarawa town.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Rapid urban growth in Nasarawa have resulted in the increasing demand for land which has seen the town expand to its rural fringes to cater for urban developments such residential, agricultural, commercial, industries, and recreational developments. As a result, the fringes are associated with unplanned and uncontrolled development, and occupation of unsuitable sites, lacking in access to clean water and basic sanitation, and poor housing conditions. This poses serious social, economic and physical or environmental problems whose implications for effective urban management in Nigeria do not seem to be adequately taken care of. This fact has led many to question the sustainability of the current trend in urban growth considering the accompanying challenges such as slum development, environmental degradation and large scale modification of the environment of the urban fringe (Duany et al., 2000; Yankson, 1995; Songsore and McGranahan, 1993; Onibokun, 2004). Consequently, this research tries to measure the impact of urban growth on the supply of residential and agricultural land in the urban fringes of Nasarawa town.

1.3       Aim and Objectives of the Study

1.3.1    Aim

The aim of this project is to measure the impact of urban growth on the supply of residential and agricultural land in the urban fringes of Nasarawa town.

1.3.2    Objectives

The specific objectives of this study will be to:

1. Impact of urban growth on the supply of residential and agricultural land in the urban fringes
2. Assess the effects of urban land use changes on residential and agricultural land use in Nasarawa town.
3. Investigate the urban planning and management response to supply of  residential and agricultural land in the urban fringes in the study area.
4. To ascertain the opportunities and challenges of rapid urbanisation in urban fringe area?
5. To examine the measures to be put in place for the management of the fringe area?

1.4       Research Questions

The researcher will forward the following research questions to guide the study:

1. What are the impacts of urban growth on the supply of residential and agricultural land in the urban fringes?
2. What are the effects of urban land use changes on residential and agricultural land use in Nasarawa town?
3. What are the urban planning and management response to supply of  residential and agricultural land in the urban fringes in the study area.
4. What are the opportunities and challenges of rapid urbanisation in urban fringe area?
5. What are the measures to be put in place for the management of the fringe area?

1.5       Significance of the Study

Rapid urbanization has adversely affected supply of residential and agricultural land for development efforts in many cities due to decreasing land in favour of the provision of residential accommodation and overuse of available arable land which  resulting in low agricultural productivity in the urban fringes (Asamoah, 2010).  This study will help in understanding the consequences of urban growth on the supply of residential and agricultural land in the urban fringes of Nasarawa town.

The results of the study will serve as baseline information on urban expansion in terms of its impact on land use patterns, the drivers/conditions that contribute to the changing land use patterns in Nasarawa town. The outcome of this research can be beneficial to local, state, and federal governments, as it will be useful in generating base line data for further studies and intervention, policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, especially on issues relating to urban growth and its impact on the supply of residential and agricultural land in the urban fringes.

1.6       Scope and Limitation of the Study

The scope is study is limited to measuring the impact of urban growth on the supply of residential and agricultural land in the urban fringes of Nasarawa town. The scope is limited to this urban fringe in Nasarawa             

1.7       Definition of Terms

Urban growth: Urban growth is defined as the rate at which the population of an urban area increases.Urban growth may lead to an increase in economic development of a country. Urban growth is also referred as the expansion of a metropolitan or suburban area into the surrounding environment. It can be considered as an indicator of the state of a country’s economic condition as the effect of urban growth directly impacts the country’s economic development.

Urban Fringe: The urban fringe, also known as the outskirts or the urban hinterland, can be described as the “landscape interface between town and country”, or also as the transition zone where urban and rural uses mix and often clash.

Agricultural land: refers to land suitable for agricultural production of both crops and livestock. In this study, it is limited to cropland or cultivable land.

Geographic Information System: a computer aided system, designed and assembled to capture, store, manipulate, analyse, manage, and present many types of geospatially-referenced data. GIS gives positional information pertaining to physical features for informed decision-making and for users to create interactive queries in order to analyse spatial information apply GIS tools and applications.

Land use: purposes for which humans exploit the land resources that involves the management and modification of natural environment.

Land use conversion: this refers to change in the overall classification of land cover through a complete replacement of one type of land cover by another type due to change in urban extent.

Land use planning: a process that is concerned with the preparation and actualization of spatial framework for orderly management of human activities.

Peri-urban: refers to the non-urban areas close to the cities and towns also referred to as rural-urban fringe, urban hinterland, or as the transition zone where urban and rural land uses mix and often clash.

Remote sensing: a process that involves the detection and measurement of radiation of different wavelengths reflected or emitted from distant objects or materials, which are identified and categorized by class/type, substance, and spatial distribution.

Urbanization: process driven by market forces and governmental policies that lead to simultaneous processes of change in livelihoods, land use, health and natural resources management.

Urban expansion: refers to the extension of urban landscapes to the surrounding areas mainly, peri-urban area resulting in the loss of agricultural lands, and natural beauty.

Zoning: a method of land use control employed by local governments that imposes different land use controls in each zone.

Urban sprawl: refers to expansion of urban area to agricultural land caused by high population growth and rural urban migration.

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