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07030248044CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
The competing land uses in Lagos now overlap because of the lack of space. Regular changes in use in key corridors, particularly in Lagos State, are a result of pressure on the existing buildings (Farinmade, 2016). The utility value of a land depends on various geographic factors. The type of landuse depend on the location, availability of water and soil, moisture soil, fertility or proximity to other human activities. A large number of landuse types and categories have been worked out by various researchers of different disciplines (Balasubramanian, 2015). The classification of a land into its various uses and how these uses change over a period of time provide the background information needed for planning land resources. The basic level of categorization separates them intoUrban Landuse and Rural Landuse. Land utilized for residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, transportation, communications and general utilities all belong to the Urban Land use categories. All other land not classified as urban, including agricultural land, farmland, cropland, rangeland and forest land belong to the Rural Landuse categories, in general (Balasubramanian, 2015).
The global urban growth and development has witnessed series of transformations or changes over time as evident in the unguarded and uncontrolled global demographic trend and pattern which ranges from a mammoth scale of sequential increase in global population and urban land uses, to the micro level of variation in the distribution of population and land use infiltrations across continents and nations of the world. Scholars have identified this to be a major issue shaping and reshaping the economic, social and physical dimensions of urban centres in many large cities of the world, especially in the Sub-saharan Africa (Ankeli et al., 2019; Olarewaju, 2016). According to Thuo (2013), the population in urban centres of countries in Africa just like that of other parts of the developing nations of the worldis expected to double its current size by 2025. This assertion was further supported by the report of UN-HABITAT (2011) cited in Nduwayezu et al., ( 2016) which opined that, 52% of the 3.6 billion world’s population are currently residing in the urban centres but this is expected to rise to 67% by 2050 as the global urbanization rate increases, while the proportion of the population of urban centres in the developing regions of the world will increase from 47% in 2011 to 64% in 2050 with the expectation that African urban population will triple from 414 million in 2011 to 1.2 billion by 2050. The expected rapid rise in urban population growth will definitely translate to increasing demand for urban land, land uses and development, particularly in the area of urban housing, commerce, transportation and other various urban land uses.
Cities in Nigeria are growing at unparalleled and uncontrollable rates with the attendant consequences of extensive urban landscapes, distorted city master plan and other socio-economic, demographic and physical consequences. However, Adeyinka (2014) opined that the proportion of land allocated to the various land uses in different part of the globe varies significantly over time and space depending on the level of development, the effectiveness of planning regulations as well as the compliance level of populace to law and order. Adeyinka (2014) classified urban land uses in Canada into six, with residential land use occupying the largest proportion of 40% of the total land mass, closely followed by transportation taken 32%, public /institutional occupying 10%, open space takes 7%, industrial land use with 6% and commercial land use occupies 5% which happen to be the least proportion of land use. But despite the legal allocation of land to the various uses, there are factors that help in the alteration of the allocations in most cities of the world. Previous scholars as Ankeli et al., (2019), Ankeli et al. (2018), Akerele (2013), Ogungbemi (2012) and Adebayo (2009) have identified such factors to include highest and best use, demography, economic, invasion, succession and dominance, institutional and infrastructural factors, environmental factors among others.
Land and buildings have continued to witness conversion of use, from lower to a higher rank, in order to attain optimal use. Commercial land use is becoming one of the notable features of urban centers. Commercial activities have been predominant in the economic sector of the Lagos metropolis, especially in residential areas which INEC (1998), Lagos State Master Plan (1980-2000), Oduwaye (2002), Lawanson (2011), Alade (2011) and Agunloye (2013) classified into low, medium and high residential densities. These commercial activities occupy 51.9% of the total Lagos built-up area (Ogunleye and Alo, 2010). The importance of the informal commercial activities in the urban economy is widely recognised by researchers. Abumere, et al. (2008) stated that informal workers contribute more to global trade than other sectors of the urban economy. Folawemo (2009) noted that the informal sector provides ten (10) jobs for every one provided by formal sector employment in Africa. Evidently therefore, there is a large urban workforce in the informal sector. A good percentage of this based in residential areas. However, the fact that the sector has the prospect to engage the large size of the unemployed in the labour force has constituted a great challenge to urban land use planning in Nigeria and many developing nations (Adeyinka et al., 2006). This challenge is occasioned by the fact that the sector most often generates land use problems, such as urban sprawl, incompatible land uses, building alteration and alteration of land use functions and values.
Of the entire Lagos built-up area, these commercial activities occupy 51.9% of the space. Researchers generally agree that the informal commercial sector is important to the urban economy. Many academics have defined the idea of land use. According to Skole (1994), land use is the human usage of a particular type of land cover and the method through which human activity appropriates the outcomes of net primary production (NPP), which is determined by a variety of socioeconomic factors. Furthermore, according to Binns (1953), "land use" refers to the function or purpose for which the land is used by the local human population and is defined as all human activities that are directly related to the land, use its resources, or have an impact on them.
The exceptional rate of growth and expansion in the metropolis is what led to the creation of the Land Use Act, which is why it is often accompanied by redevelopment and residential building conversion rather than a proportional increase in the housing stock and its auxiliary services. Land use zoning, as it is defined in the Lagos State Master Plan (1980), has to be implemented as a policy guide for allocating land and building uses to control rising population growth and demographic pressure on land, which lead to economic reactions that have an impact on both the land and housing markets (Farinmade, 2010).
The study of land use changes, specifically its housing component, which takes into account issues like housing costs and environmental quality, has received a lot of interest from academics (Oduwaye & Okusipe, 2004; Olayiwola et al., 2006; Oduwaye & Lawanson, 2007; Adebayo, 2009). Research in this area has tackled the topic of land use changes, which has a macro perspective and affects a very vast territory. However, building-use conversion is the focus of a microstudy as opposed to changes in land use. While land-use change may be interested in the geographic scope of use changes, property usage conversion, among other things, studies the frequency of inter-functional conversion. Other micro-related issues include the variables that affect property owners' use-conversion choices and how use-conversion affects citizens' utility satisfaction with publicly owned utilities, which is adversely impacted by overuse brought on by use-conversion (Braimoh & Onishi, 2007).
The Ratcliffe (1949) and Losch (1945) supported relationship between the locations of land uses has been expanded using the concept of the "bid-rent function" (Alonso, 1964). The bid-rent function, according to Alonso (2015), is a fictitious space profit function that shows how land users' willingness to pay urban site rentals varies with proximity to the central business area in order to ensure the same amount of profit throughout the city. The relative efficacy of the various uses at various sites ultimately determines how land is utilized. Efficiency is a metric used to assess a user's ability to derive economic value from a location and pay rent. The winning bidder is the one who can get the most value out of a certain site. As a result, an ordered pattern of land use forms that is physically arranged to carry out the economic function that defines urban life as effectively as possible. As a result, the spatial organization of the city contrasts the rent-paying capacity of functions with their proximity to the central location.
Adejumo (2006), Oduwaye (2008), and Nwokoro (2008) studied the health effects of land use changes in Victoria Island, Lagos, and found that the transition from a primarily tranquil residential area to a chaotic mix of commercial and residential buildings had adversely affected the area's health pattern. Due to its effects on the ecosystem, this study found that improper land usage today poses a threat to human life. The findings showed that most public and private landowners alter land resources without giving proper thought to how their actions can affect the environment. The behavioral implications of environmental pollution and the implementation of sustainable development plans were highlighted as ways to provide solutions to issues that may result from inappropriate land use. Despite the development of the land use act, the issue of land use changes and resident compliance is likely unstudied. In light of this, the current study aims to assess the level of compliance with the specified standard for residential use conversion in Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
Despite the widely accepted significance of housing for humans, there are many housing issues in developed and developing countries alike. These issues have a qualitative and quantitative aspect and appear in various societal illnesses and degeneracy states (Dogan, 2019). The housing problem has also manifested itself in the style and manner in which people from different social groups seek to modify their homes, changing them from their intended function to one that looks more socially acceptable. This is especially apparent in residential areas, where current alterations are frequently a radical divergence from what they previously were or should have been. Despite the fact that these transformational aspects may not follow planning laws' expectations, they have still continued uncontrolled. In recent years Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos has seen an increase in the conversion of buildings from residential to other uses and from commercial to residential usage in neighborhoods that have historically been utilized mostly for residential purposes. The structures are increasingly being used entirely or partially for light commercial and industrial purposes. Houses that were originally built as shops are now being converted to residential spaces, and the homes are being used as shops, stores, workshops, and other businesses. The frontal rooms of buildings are typically changed in most of these streets, and occasionally additions are built, turning important residential areas into commercial ones.
The government has made several attempts to control these dangerous developments; most recently, the government of Lagos State issued a warning to residents during an agency enforcement exercise, advising them to refrain from using their property for any purposes other than those that have been authorized by the agency. Despite all of these efforts, it appears to have become the norm for households to enjoy making changes to or moving their homes in order to make room for new activities that were typically not intended and may not even be appropriate for the area. This has had an impact on the zoning principles, density, and spatial interaction of Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos as well as an inconsistent pattern of land use within the built environment as we can see. It is based on this background that the present study seeks to assess the level of compliance with the specified standard for residential use conversion in Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
Objectives of the Study
The main objectives of this study is to assess the level of compliance with the specified standard for residential use conversion in Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. The specific objectives of this study include;
The following questions were used to give the present study a direction;
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following were hypothesized in the present study;
Hypothesis 1
H0: There is no significant effect of residential use conversion on the environment in the Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos State.
H1: There is significant effect of residential use conversion on the environment in the Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos State.
Hypothesis 2
H0: There is no significant relationship between residential use conversion and the environment in the Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos State.
H1: There is significant relationship between residential use conversion and the environment in the Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos State
This study will have significance to students by educating the students on how building land use affect the environment, this research will advance knowledge by enabling the students to function as expected in their academic work.
Additionally, this study would contribute to the growth of knowledge at the institution and aid advance research.
The finding of this study will also aid the government to know the reasons behind building use conversion activities in Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos State specifically and some other part of Nigeria.
Again, based on the findings of this study, government would be able to devise fantastic strategies of managing the issues of environment that occurs as a result of residential use conversion. The study's findings may be helpful to policymakers in their future planning.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study is limited at assessing the level of compliance with the specified standard for residential use conversion in Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
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