The Evolution and Nature of Urban Planning in Nigeria

Abstract

Historically, Nigeria had some rudimentary elements of city and town planning that was part of local indigenous administration in Nigeria long before the colonial administration (Olufemi et al., 2015). Examples of this are found in many indigenous cities, in the form of a deliberate spatial arrangement of land use around the palaces, such as found in the Sokoto Caliphate and much of the Oyo Empire. However, 1904–1946 heralded the emergence and introduction of modern city-oriented planning laws, frameworks and ideologies. Since independence, there have been many planning interventions, ranging from the macro level – the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), the Town Planners Registration Council (TOPREC), the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), the Master Plan of the Federal Capital Territory, the Regional Development Plan, an increase in the number of planning schools in the country, and the enactment of the Urban and Regional Planning (URP) Law – to the micro level – domestication of URP laws in different states, urban renewal programmes and master planning of states and institutions (NITP, 2012 cited in Olufemi et al., 2015). The most important of these achievements will be discussed in detail in the subsequent sections.