Landuse Conversion in Ibadan Metropolis: The Town Planners’ Perspectives

This paper examines town planning perspective on landuse conversion in Ibadan, Nigeria with the aim of providing information that could aid better land use planning and management in the study area. To achieve this, both primary and secondary data were adopted for the study. Primary data entails questionnaire administration and interview conducted on purposively selected thirty-seven (37) Town Planning Officers in all (11) the Zonal Planning Offices of the study area. The interview section was basically designed for the Directors of the Zonal Planning Offices in Ibadan Metropolis. The result were analysed with the aid of descriptive and narrative analytical techniques. The study revealed a chronic shortage of Town Planning officers in the Zonal Planning Offices of the study area, especially in Ibadan North, Ibadan Northeast, Ibadan Southeast and Ona-Ara local Government areas with 2, 2, 1 and 2 Town Planning Officers respectively. Hence, low staff strength is among the problems facing effective monitoring and controlling of landuse conversion in the study area. Other problems identified were corruption among the staff, ineffective master plan, inadequate tools and machineries, poor funding of the Zonal Planning Offices, among others. The study also deduced that Town Planning as a profession, is perceived more as a medium to generate revenue than serving as a social work to the people. Hence, larger proportion of Town Planning Officers preferred continuity of landuse conversion. The study concluded that landuse conversion is inevitable and unstoppable in the city’s development. Therefore, the Zonal Planning Offices should be empowered with more fund, qualified staff, machineries, among others to enhance effective monitoring and controlling of landuse conversions in the study area.