The trends in the urbanization of African cities and the associated land use planning and development problems have taken a toll on many of the poor host communities which in consequence, have lost access to their paternal lands. In recent times, there has been a scramble for urban lands in most settlements that have attained “City” or “Urban” status. This is chiefly due to the shortage of shelter and infrastructural facility needs which were hitherto situated as desired mainly by the government, regardless of public opinion. As a result, most cities experience urban land use planning and administration system that precluded the poor residents. In Nigeria where 50% of the population is urban, this trend is rampant and continually gains momentum despite the organic origins of most of the cities. The present day Enugu metropolis is internationally ranked as the 553rd City of the world and increases at a growth rate of 2.55% and net migration rate of -0.22 migrant(s)/ 1,000 populations; thus a steady increase in population over the years with an attendant effect on the housing sector. The city originated from Ngwo town of Udi Land; a poor community which till today is edged out and marginalized in urban development process of the city which has grown and engulfed the lands of other surrounding poor communities such as Nike, Ugwuaji, Akwuke and Amaechi Awkunanaw, leaving the natives as strangers in their own paternal land. The current system of land acquisition and administration in Enugu has been identified as a parallel combination of the formal and the informal sectors which increases the cost of land. This inevitably pushes poor urban residents to the urban periphery that has no infrastructures whatsoever, thus giving rise to the emergence of slums and many squatter settlements. This process has serious implications for future land accessibility issues for the poor communities in Enugu. Despite the presidential technical committeeonlandreformsince2009,with a view to realizing the policy on Housing for all by the year 2020, the solution does not seem in sight. A new policy on Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) has attracted foreign investors and developers which, in turn, have triggered a new dimension of land speculation, land use conversion and compulsory land acquisition; all of which preclude the poor and also ignore the female folk completely. Enugu metropolis with a population of about 972,623 people is observably characterized by gross housing shortage, increasing housing rent, and acute lack of infrastructure especially at the periphery, high land values resulting in the emergence of slums and expansion of many squatter settlements at the urban periphery of the city. Presently, the study has identified nine peri-urban squatter settlements with a total population estimate of 32,694; an indication that about 3.62 % unaccounted spill over population with over 4,889 households are pushed out of the city. This study therefore looks into the effect of urbanization and urban land planning and administration in Enugu with a view to evolving sustainable measures that will ensure equity and fairness in land accessibility for the poor urban residents and the surrounding communities.
Uchegbu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.