‘Land banking practice is inimical to cities’ growth, promotes resources under-utilisation’
BASED on the outcomes of my research works, teaching and professional experience I wish to present the following recommendations which I believe will enhance the quality of urban land use planning research and practice.
Need for Political Will
Those aspiring to rule Nigeria must have a good understanding of the challenges posed by the Nigerian environment (Onibokun, 1998). The politicians must realize that central to politics is the issue of environmental sustainability. The success of the political actors, the managers of our economy and our leaders of thought is not going to be judged by empty phrases and high-sounding promises but by the positive impact made by the political actors on the built environment. The earlier we start to diagnose the environmental issues and find pragmatic solution to the problems the better we shall be able to avoid and forestall the future social upheaval.
Formalization of Informality
With the current state of the Nigerian economy and the sporadic spread of informality in virtually all types of land uses, there is urgent need to rethink the position of informality in our cities. Government should urgently research into the nature of this phenomenon and provide appropriate ways to mainstream many of the informal land uses. Preparation of Physical Development Plans The traditional practice all over the world is that managers of cities i.e. governments, through their various agencies, prepare or fund the preparation of physical development plans like master plans, structure plans, regional plans, local plans, subject plans, etc. Plans at lower levels should be given out to planning consultants to prepare and implement with appropriate supervision by government agencies. Also, the need to review existing planning standards should be of prime concern. Our cities have grown more complex than what they were when most of the land and planning regulations guiding their growth were made.
Urban Planning and Climate Change on Cities
It is important to recognise that urban planning models and approaches may be completely inappropriate to respond to climate change. In fact, some of them largely contribute to the climate change. It is therefore imperative that urban planning looks at climate change as an opportunity to reassess itself, the models that it has promoted across the globe in the past, and looks at responses that fully recognises the mistakes of the past and the new trends in city growth. Achieving sustainable cities and contributing to climate protection requires planned change to the way in which cities are spatially configured and serviced. Urban planning can help mainstream climate change considerations into urban development processes. Physical planning measure to reduce the effects of climate change are combinations of mitigation and adaptation measures.
Preparation of Land Value Mapping
There is urgent need to prepare the land value mapping of top cities in Nigeria. This will provide the basis for the preparation of realistic land use plan that will be responsive to the expectations of land owners and the market focus, yet bringing harmony into the urban spatial structure.
Legislation to Discourage Land Banking
There exist many unbuilt plots of lands in our cities. This land banking practice is not only by individuals, and corporate bodies alone; government institutions at various levels are involved. This practice is inimical to sequential growth of the city and under-utilization of land resources in cities. Therefore government should put up appropriate legislation such as land ceiling that will prescribe maximum land area that can remain unbuilt in cities. Such legislation could include payment of levy on unbuilt lands in cities. Where such land is under the ownership of government or her agency there should be technical justification to retain such undeveloped land. Such lands should be put-up for residential development.
Need for Land Reform
The access to land system should be reviewed in order to enhance access to land or development on land. The current piece-meal land allocation in plots in cities is wasteful and unsustainable. Land reform should involved access to bulk and allocation to individuals, corporate bodies, developers with justification for such allocation through feasibility studies showing that such applicant is capable of developing the land for the purpose for which it is allocated within specific time frame. This will enhance housing supply, and prevent the current fragmentation of land development practices. Encouragement of In-Filling In order to discourage the sporadic sprawl of cities, major development should only be allowed outside the built-up areas of cities especially the fringe provided the developers is able to justify that he has made attempts and unable to secure land for such major development in the inner and built-up areas of cities. This will allow for efficient access to infrastructure support and services.
Striving to Achieve Carbon-Neutral and Zero Carbon Cities
This should be for specific number of housing units/floor areas. Such properties should be given planning approval incentives and tax incentives. Also such development/developers can be allowed to build more dwelling units per hectares, provision for car pooling, closer provision of public transport routes, public services, community services all within walking distances to such properties and where possible transport subsidy to occupiers of such properties. All of these objectives will help to mitigate greenhouse. Carbon neutral cities are able to reduce their ecological footprint through energy efficiency. This will require specific policies and laws at all levels of the society. The target should be towards achieving stabilization of GHG concentration in the atmosphere at a level whereby the ecosystem can adapt naturally to climate change, so that food production and economic development can be sustained.
Green Infrastructure
Green infrastructure can be defined as the network of spaces and natural elements. Green spaces and corridors help to cool the urban, environments, improve air quality and ameliorate surface run-off. A green infrastructure planning approach will reduce flood risk, protect building integrity and improve human health and comfort. Green roofs are roofs which are covered with vegetation and soil. This can reduce run-off and subsequently relieve the pressure on drainage systems, particularly at times of high intensity rainfall. Additionally, the benefits afforded to biodiversity can be significant by providing wildlife habitats in urban areas. They also enhance the thermal performance of buildings and have an important role to play in reducing the urban heat island effect.
Pedestrianisation
This will be a solution to the conflict between human being and vehicles. It will also address the issues of social, health, energy, economic, aesthetic and environmental problem. It will encourage trecking, reduce the negative impact of the automobile which will be pushed to the back of the house. This concept will facilitate better interaction between scale plazas fountains, parks, water bodies and forest areas. This concept should be tested with new towns.
A Case for Increase in Density and Densification of Urban Land Use
To maximize the land potential of top cities in Nigeria there is need to increase the land use density of urban area in order to unleash the inherent locked up values and potential of these areas. This will not only enhance the economic benefit to the land owners but also to the government. It is pertinent to mention that there are development myths which the society will raised due to their, ignorance of urbanization trend, process and potentials. These myths has been conquered by modernization of urban planning and architecture.
First there is the myth of the need for privacy by individuals in their various compounds. There has never been privacy in compounds in the city in any outdoor space, as substantial percents of buildings in urban areas are more than one floor i.e bungalow. Any building with over one floor will enhance visual contact into compounds around them. However, in actual fact high rise buildings are aids to security of other buildings and compounds in the neigbouhood, as the users and occupiers can easily monitor intruders into neighbours compounds. This is more imperative in Nigeria cities where insecurity has been of major concern.
The second myth that high rise cast shadow into neigbours properties. This is a positive value in the tropical environment where there is high temperature, and high solar radiations. To guide against the effects of solar penetration traditional architecture and urban planning efforts are made to provide shading devices supplemented with tree planting to break the effects of solar penetration into the interior. This will be provided by high rise buildings at no cost to the neighbourhood properties.
The Third myth that high-rise attract traffic. This is not true in modern urbanization trend. In actual fact high rise will reduce the number of traffic especially on the road. It is where the city is gasping for high rise and where they are not commensurately provided that leads to traffic generation. How the phenomenon work in that high rise are usually mixed-use buildings with varieties of activities that cut across all basic human daily endeavours such as residential, place of work, recreation, education, services, commercial among others in a single building.
This by implication means that where such buildings are clustered, substantial number of people residing in a particular building may be working within the same building, his children schooling within the same building, recreation, shopping, medical services among others within the same building or the next plot building. Such persons or families will not have to put their vehicles on the road all the time since they can easily walk to consume these daily needs.
Adoption of Land Use Intensification and Compact City Concept
There are many advantages of land use intensification in contrast to urban sprawl. For these reasons among others, contemporary urban planning principles and methods towards the accomplishment of compact and urban land use intensification should be embraced. This concept will unleash the locked-up values of land.
It will maximum economic returns to land owners, maximum economic returns to developers, Maximum economic returns to government, maximum economic returns to the public through modernization of infrastructure, capacity and opportunity to deploy green growth and development technology and practices, efficient public transport system, encourages walking and cycling, promotion of healthy cities, low energy consumption, reduction of pollution and provide better social interaction.
Co-Production in the Planning Process
Despite the improvement in the quality of available knowledge, governance, institutional support and the role of the professional bodies concerned with improving the quality of the environment, the level of accomplishment is still very low. For the planners themselves it is even more frustrating when consideration is given to the grand scope of its mission.
To break the jinx of traditional domain of planning, as insufficient for planning survival in the emerging complex environment, will require, first, the appraisal of the application of traditional planning principles during which the planner thinks of himself as ready and all knowing. He bases his plans on these principles which he expects the public to accept. To achieve collective decision making in planning in Nigeria will require identification of stakeholders and the general public in all environmental development programmes. These include the following among others the town planners, the businessmen, corporate bodies, the informal sector, merchants, financial houses, the mass media, property developers, realtors, government agencies involved in large scale land use such as National Electric Power Authority, the Ministry of Education, politicians, the professionals, the NGOs and the CBO’s.
What is more important is the role of these in the co-production planning process. This could be achieved in a number of ways. The businessmen could offer part-time service at either board or committee levels, and use their experience to enrich decisions on environmental improvement. The business sector has the financial and corporate resources which it can deploy to support local public sector officials who are involved in community based projects. For example the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, the Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce and Social Development Funds could be earmarked for specific planning projects.
Also there is need for the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) to encourage the formation of planning clubs in schools, churches, mosques, and communities at the junior and senior levels. These planning clubs are to enlist, co-ordinate and co-opt interested individuals especially in cities. Big companies and merchants are major stakeholders in achieving healthy cities. They also have organized trade associations with highly significant influence on the communities where they are situated. They should be encouraged to support planning programmes to meet specific community needs.
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1 Comments
This long article is clearly someone’s intellectual work, yet The Guardian did not give any attribution. It is really sad and disappointing.
We will review and take appropriate action.