INFLUENCE OF DEVELOPMENT CONTROL STRATEGIES ON LAND USES DURING URBAN PHYSICAL EXPANSION OF CITIES IN SOUTH-SOUTH, NIGERIA

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of development control strategies on urban land uses in cities of the South-South region of Nigeria. This was done through an examination of the development control strategies and the urban land uses in the study area.

Design/methodology/approach: The data of the study was obtained through the "rapid urban assessment method" with intensive field sampling and questionnaire administration. The study used 1,536 urban dwellers as its sample size from the cumulative study population of 1,782,817 persons, being projected to 2023 from the National Population Census figures of 1991. The multiple linear regression analysis technique was the statistical tool employed for the testing of the hypothesis. In the study, five variables of development control strategies served as independent variables which were regressed against five variables of land uses being the dependent variables.

Findings: From the result of the simultaneous multiple regression, the Model Summary Table provided the R-value (.340) and R-Square value (.115) which explains how much of the variance in the land use variables that is affected by all the five variables of development control strategies. In this case, the value is .115, when expressed as a percentage implies that only 11.5% of the variance in land use is explained by the variables of development control strategies. Of all the five variables of development control strategies, it is only the variable coordination of physical development that made statistically significant unique contribution (-.284 x-.284) to the prediction of landuse variable, and thus, indicates that it uniquely explains 8.07% of the variance in landuse Therefore the null hypothesis, "there are no significant effects of development control strategies on landuses in the study area", can be accepted for all other strategies except for coordination of physical development which has significant effect on landuse.

Research limitations/Implications: Findings from the study implies that only "coordination of physical development plan" significantly impacts land uses.

Practical implications: There should be more stringent enforcement of urban development regulations on all land uses. This will forestall the high level of non-compliance to planning regulations in our cities.

Originality/value: The study revealed the effect of development control strategies on urban land uses in cities of the South-South region of Nigeria.