Morphological and GIS-based land use Analysis: A Critical Exploration of a Rural Neighborhood

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Morphological and GIS-based land use Analysis: A Critical Exploration of a Rural Neighborhood *Dr.OLUWAGBEMIGA PAUL AGBOOLA1,Dr.MOHDHISYAMRASIDI2,Dr.ISMAIL SAID3, MA. SAMSON OLUTAYO ABOGAN4,MA.ADEBAMBO STEPHEN ADEJUWON5 1Department of Architecture, Faculty of Environmental Studies, Osun State College of Technology, P.M.B.1011, Esa-Oke. Osun State. Nigeria. 2,3Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment, UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia, Postcode 81310, Johor Bahru, Johor. Malaysia. 4,5Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Environmental Studies, Osun State College of Technology, P.M.B. 1011, Esa-Oke. Osun-State. Nigeria. 1E mail: agbofavour41@yahoo.com , 2E mail:hisyamrasidi@gmail.com , 3E mail:ismailbinsaid@gmail.com , 4E mail: agbofavour41@yahoo.com A B S T R A C T The significance of neighbourhood in hosting a group of dwellings units and possessing adequate communal facilities could not be overemphasized in the study of people and place relationships. There are two main objectives of this study: (i) to study the neighbourhood’s associated challenges through the size, growth, and land use distribution, and (ii) to investigate the perceived inhabitants’ activities pattern within the neighbourhood. The objectives are explored through a morphological and GIS-based land use analysis of a rural neighbourhood in South-west, Nigeria. The town is studied in three transformation phases, dating back to five decades using ArcGIS version 10.3. The 1st phase spanned between the year 1910 to 1959, while the 2nd and 3rd phases ran through the year 1960 to 1999, and year 2000 to 2015 respectively. The exploration in this study is to document the diverse neighbourhood challenges, features, and prospects, which remain uninvestigated in the case study area for the past years. The first finding revealed that some challenges needed to be resolved in a bid to meet the residents’ current basic needs. The second finding indicated that the rural settlements in Nigeria emanated from the residents’ adaptation to the environmental conditions, cum transformation through human activities. Meanwhile, the third finding established that the human settlements evolved in connection to the local socio-economic, recreation and religious virtues of the traditional marketplace (Oja). In conclusion, human historical and social influences play a significant role in ameliorating the challenges associated with the spatial developments of the settlements. The implication of the study becomes vital to the major stakeholders and professionals in the built environment on the significance of enhancing the sustainable communities in Nigeria. CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS (2018) 2(2), 106-121. https://doi.org/10.25034/ijcua.2018.4675 www.ijcua.com Copyright © 2018Contemporary Urban Affairs. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Neighbourhood as a place in built environment refers to a fractional part of a city or suburban area which offers a residential environment and allied facilities for lower percentages of residents’ population (Nadeem, et al., 2013).In other words, the neighbourhood could be perceived in terms of residents’ populationcapacity that may range from 2500 to 25000 residents, with the sizes up to 30 acres (Nadeem, et al., 2013). The neighbourhood environment such as rural town and villages can be studied in its totality of the existing surrounding conditions (Aydin & Buyuk, 2014; Berk, 2005). Similarly, it could be seen as a recognized boundary whose characteristics are derived primarily from its components. The components involve physical, cultural, and social aspects. Rural neighbourhood environment could be described as a fractional key node of activities within a portion of a suburban area serving as a residential environment equipped with necessary facilities for a fewer percentage of residents’ population (Agboola, Rasidi& Said, 2016). Rural neighbourhood indicates a connection between the residents’ population, the degree of its remoteness, and physical features in comparison to what is obtainable in urban or city centres (Salamon & Mac Tavish, 2009). The authors acknowledge, rural as perceptual functions hinge on the population size of the residents and parameter of such locality. The meaning of rural in this study is coined as a place with fewer agrarians’ population of residents having a specific local identity. In this vein, rural neighbourhood according to Duxbury and Campbell (2011) could be ascertained based on a variety of characteristics such as population density and size, socioeconomic characteristics, residents’ status, the level of development, and cultural affinity. The primary function of the neighbourhood is to acts as a link between the physical and social dimensions of shared and liveable spaces (Kazmierczak, 2013). Recent development in the field of rural and urban design, landscaping, architecture, engineering sociology, urban geography among few have called for proper exploration of neighbourhood and morphology concepts with respect to its size, design, transformation, and planning. Morphology is described as the formation of plots, buildings, use, streets, plans, townscapes (Gordon, 1984). The significance of morphology is reflected largely in that it enables the documentation of spatial aspects of urban and sub-urban developmental viewpoints. In the words, it assists in producing concepts and generalizations related to the character and classification of land use within the suburban area, and to the spatial interactions of cities growth, through internal structure and processes (Goodall, 1987; Herbert & Thomas, 1982). In addition, morphology is useful in solving some urban and rural planning related challenges, and appraisal of features and prospect by the decision makers in the built environment (Whitehand, 1987). Historically, the planning idea originated from Howard’s garden city movement (Kallus&Yone, 2000; Spreiregen, 1965) when efforts were geared towards combating problems associated with excessive use of automobiles for daily movement and suburbanization during the 20th and 21st centuries (Nadeem, et.al., 2013). While affirming the associated landscape challenges in Nigeria, Onwuanyi, (2017); Fadamiro & Atolagbe, (2006); Officha, Onwuemesi&Akanwa, (2012) and Agboola, Zango&Zakka (2015b), submitted that the unplanned land use experienced in most Nigerian neighborhoods has affected the adequacy of the landscapes in diverse ways. Therefore, it becomes imperative in studying the transformations in the physical spatial conditions and development pattern of a typical rural town in Nigeria. This is a view of proffering solution to the associated challenges in land use activities. The objectives of this quantitative and qualitative study focus on the followings: [i] studying the associated challenges with the town through the size, growth, and land use distribution [ii] exploring the perception of the inhabitants (stakeholders and professionals in the built environment) on various activities pattern within the town. The two objectives will explore residents’ perception of the quality of neighbourhood land use provisions and transformation in physical development of the neighbourhood. Research questions will answer the following: [i] what are the factors that contributed to the transformation of the case study neighbourhood? [ii] Does the quality of the rural setting affect the perception and interaction of community residents?Understanding the existing morphology of a settlement would constitute a vital factor towards creating an appropriate future developmental intervention.

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The implication of the study becomes vital to the major stakeholders and professionals in the built environment on the significance of enhancing the sustainable communities in Nigeria.

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