Context and background: The growth of urban structures in Ibadan, Nigeria, is a major challenge to urban renewal and good governance, which has led to the urban erosion, economic wastage and social decline. Goal and objectives: The current research evaluates the spatial distribution, physical conditions as well as governance aspects of abandoned structures in Ibadan so as to come up with evidenced based strategies to revitalize the urban areas. Methodology: Using mixed-methodology, the research combines spatial analysis with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), field surveys and statistical analysis in mapping 30 abandoned public buildings in ten Local Government Areas (LGAs). Results: The results indicate a great concentration of the number of abandoned buildings in the center cities, especially Ibadan North, North East and North West with administrative buildings (30%), and residential facilities (20%), being most affected. About 66.7 percent of these buildings are completely vacated with 56.7 percent in bad structural conditions which is a systemic problem in the management of the public assets. Some of the reasons that lead to the abandonment of some facilities are poor maintenance practices, evolving priorities of the state and poor institutional structures. They include creation of Urban Renewal Authority, incorporation of adaptive reuse policies, and creating a GIS-based asset management system, which will improve governance and transform abandoned buildings, which the study suggests the creation of. The objective of these interventions is to convert the forsaken buildings into a useful asset to grow the cultures, economies, and neighborhoods, and to provide a precedent to the sustainable urban renewal in Ibadan and other urban settings of developing countries.
ILESANMI et al. (Fri,) studied this question.