Assessment of Developers’ Awareness of Physical Planning Regulations in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

This study assessed developers’ awareness of physical planning regulations in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, with a view to suggesting policy response in achieving effective physical planning regulations in the city and others with similar characteristics. Twenty-two residential (22) areas were found in the three identified developmental zones in the city. Due to homogeneity, one area was selected in each developmental zone and questionnaires were administered on every 20th building in each zone. A housing unit not occupied by house owners was skipped for the next building occupied by the house owner. A total of 121 house owners were selected for the survey using a systematically sampling technique. Data analysis was done using cross-tabulations and analysis of variance. Findings revealed that developers’ profiles varied significantly across developmental zones. The most predominant sources of awareness of physical planning regulations by developers were only during the process of seeking building approval (95.86%). As such it could be deduced that the level of awareness of physical planning through sources such as mass media (22.31%) and conflict resolution (10.74%) is low in the study area. Developers opined that the most effective physical planning activities were during monitoring exercises by town planning officers. As a result, developers were not involved in physical planning decisions. Also, the majority of the developers were only aware of fewer planning functions. This low level of awareness has made the development haphazard in the city. The study recommends that physical planning agencies should raise public awareness on physical planning regulations and activities beyond the approval seeking processes and also enlighten the developers and public about disaster inherent in disregard of physical planning regulations and the benefits therein in order to ensure a habitable environment which is conditioned by effective physical planning.