828
Table 3. Benin City land use statistics
Area as percent-
Classification
Area (ha)
age of urban and
non-urban use
Residential (low density)
168.2
1.5
Residential (medium " )
267.0
2.4
Residential (high " )
1975.9
17.7
Residential (developing)
1648.1
14.8
Commercial
145.6
1.3
Industrial
208.6
1.9
Institutional
1470.9
13.2
Communications/
utilities
158.8
1.4
Recreation/open spaces
48.1
0.4
Vacant land
1322.5
11.9
Non-urban
3738.8
33.5
TOTAL
11152.5
100.0
Total residential area
4059.2
36.4
Urban : built up area
excluding vacant and
non-urban lands
6091.2
54.6
Urban: built up area
including vacant lands
7413.7
66.5
Table 4. Warri land use statistics
Classification
Area (ha)
Area as percent-
ge of urban and
on-urban use
Residential (low density)
20.1
0.5
Residential (medium " )
65.1
1.6
Residential (high " )
281.1
6.9
Residential (developing)
266.0
6.5
Commercial
76.6
1.9
Industrial
259.5
6.4
Institutional
118.1
2.9
Communicational/Utilities
10.4
0.2
Recreational/Open Spaces
13.9
0.3
Vacant Land
317.7
7.8
Non-Urban
2292.0
56.2
Water
356.0
8.7
TOTAL
4076.5
100.0
Total residential area
632.3
15.5
Urban: built up area
excluding vacant, water
and non-urban lands
1110.8
27.2
Urban: built up area
including vacant lands
1428.5
35.0
4.3 Land use in Warri
Warri is situated 6.1 metres above sea level. It is
a sea port in the Niger delta on 5°, 31' N and 5°,
44' e (Fig.l). The city has experienced remarkable
growth since it became a provincial and later Local
Government Headquarters and the activity site of many
major petroleum exploration, steel processing, ship
ping, and other industrial and commercial companies.
The consolidation and subsequent expansion of the
industrial, commercial and administrative functions
between 1952 and 1980 fostered the influx of labour
and other migrants to the city. Thus the population
grew from 19,526 in 1952 to 72,000 in 1963 and
228,000 in 1982 (Sada, 1984).
The spatial pattern of land use activities in Warri
is shown in Fig. 4. Three distinct zones of land use
activities are recognizable: the residential zone
which extends from the central parts to the north
east, the central Business district in the south-east
and the industrial conglomerates in the west and water
fronts of Warri River in the south-west and south-east.
The residential parts exhibit four spatial struc
tures. First, is the (class 14) high residential den
sity (30 or more houses per ha), poor grade clusters
of shanty houses in the central west, central south
and north-east. The second is the class 15, high res
idential density, (20 - 30 houses per ha) which sur
rounds the class 14 in the central parts. While the
third consist of medium residential density (classes
12 and 13) estates. These estates with 10 - 20 houses
per hectare are well planned and very prominent on
the eastern Warri landscape. The fourth is the low
residential density zones in the south-west.
Warri central Business District (CBD) comprises of
three main parts. These are the warehouse, whole
saling/retailing and financial business districts
in the south-west and, shopping centres and street
front commercial activities in the central/eastern
parts. The Warri-Sapele Road constitutes the main
business thoroughfare.
Table 4 shows the proportional uses of land. The
estimated total urban area is 1110.8 ha, excluding
vacant, water and non-urban lands. Of the urban areas
56.9 percent is developed for residential use. This
consist of 1.8, 5.9, 25.3 and 23.9 percent of low
density, medium density, high density and developing
residential areas, respectively. Commercial, commu-
nicational and recreational land use occupy 6.9, 0.9
and 1.3 percents, respectively. Of significance is the
high proportion of industrial and institutional land
use activities in Warri which occupy 23.4 and 10.6
percents of the urban area.
5. CONCLUSIONS
The inventory and mapping of land use characteristics
in Nigeria brought to light a number of interesting
observations :
1. The internal structure of Lagos Island reflects
an amalgam of two different urban processes ; the tra
ditional and the modern. Pre-colonial traditional
land use specialization was predominantly cultural
and residential. In the core of the traditional cen
tre is the King's palace which is flanked by royal
chiefs' palaces and surrounding indigenous and migr
ant residential neighbourhoods. Commercial land use
specialization centred around traditional markets.
Residential development is very dense with a squalid
environment and communicational arterials are too
poor. In contrast the southern parts of Lagos Island
reflect modern urban planning and land use speciali
zation. This is manifested in the layout of streets
and the spatial organization of commerce, instituti
onal and residential activities.
2. Benin City's internal structure reflects a juxt
aposition of traditional, colonial and modern urbani
zation processes. It consists of a central open space
core from which radial and concentric thoroughfares
connect the other parts. The core is surrounded by
concentric nucléations of traditional and modern
businesses (CBD), indigenous and migrant residential
neighbourhoods, and developing modern residential
areas. Furthermore it consists of sectorial high soci
al class residential neighbourhoods; outlying nucléa
tion of commercial centres at the intersection of