- Land Market Distortions in Nigerian Cities and Urban Sprawl: the Case of Abuja and Port Harcourt    350 kb by    Owei, Opuenebo & Ede, Precious & Akarolo, Chimbiko | obo_owei@yahoo.com    Short Outline Both Abuja and Port Harcourt in Nigeria have experienced urban growth that has been difficult to manage. Factors responsible are attributable to public land acquisition, the role of indigenous urban communities and poor planning. Abstract Abuja and Port Harcourt are two of Nigeria's fastest growing cities. Whereas Abuja was created by military decree in the 1980s, Port Harcourt is a creation of the colonial government. The Abuja Federal Capital Territory occupies about 8,000sq. km of land. Both are undergoing rapid growth and spatial expansion that has become difficult to manage. Locally, the pattern of sprawl has become known as ''scatterisation'' by planners.Several factors have been identified as responsible. These include: public land acquisition, the response to these acquisitions by indigenous land owning urban communities and the struggle for access to land for development by private developers. Also important are the failures of public institutions to manage the process of urban growth. The result is development that has neither been regulated nor planned on the urban fringes. Herein lies the paradox of the sprawl characterising both cities. This study seeks to discuss the characteristics of sprawl development and to highlight the interplay of factors that occasion urban sprawl in Abuja and Port Harcourt and to provide specific insightinto the phenomena in the context of a developing country experience. Keywords public land acqusition, land market, urban growth management Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2008: Urban Growth without Sprawl   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper