Architectural Analysis of Poor Neighborhoods in Abuja, Nigeria (Published)
The concept of Abuja, Nigeria, as a befitting Federal Capital Territory was spawned in 1975 and in the process, a Master Plan was developed. It was elaborated to put in place, a sustainable urban spatial environment for all groups and activities however, the Master Plan was abused, resulted in volumetric and unvolumetric living. This research aimed to ascertain the extent of distortion in the Master Plan with regards to housing provisions for the urban poor. Instruments of two research strategies; quantitative and qualitative research methods and their tactics were used. The Sample size (n) was determined using the Taro-yamane formula and stratified single-stage cluster sampling technique used to select subjects for the study. Collected data was coded, entered and analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 22. Descriptive statistics that included frequency and percentages were used to summarize the categorical variables while means and standard deviations were obtained for continuous variables. The Master Plan provided for low-income settlements, to be built by the government and to be occupied by the public servants; the private sector servants did not appear to be properly provided for and led to dismal miscommunication problems and economic divide. The city lacked integrity, inclusion of all and not sustainable. The Abuja housing developments should embrace all and not divided by income, social status and political line.
Keywords: Abuja, Architecture, Housing, Population, Urbanization, urban poor