DEVELOPING ABUJA LOW INCOME HOUSING: AN ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH

Abstract

Lagos was both the capital of Nigeria and Lagos State and was overpopulated, overcrowded,ungovernable,unserviceable and without room for expansion.As aresult of that, the capital of Nigeria was moved to Abuja, an area,central to all Nigerians and without the defects of Lagos. The concept of Abuja came in 1975,followed with a master plan of the area. The master plan targeted a population of 3 million people in an area where no one,can "claim any special privilege of indigeneity." The master plan was subsequently abused and poorly implemented by different Abuja governments, resulting in squatter settlements, slums,urbanization and uncontrolled growth and developments within the Abuja Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Those informal settlements are off-springs of original indigenes and settlers who were cut up by Abuja's poor implementation programs and the policy of the reformed economy. That, along with demolitions (several) in Abuja FCT and influx of people into the territory in search of greener pasture have produced a lot of urban people without housing. It was the primary aim of this study to explore and integrate sustainable spatial architectural programmes that would bridge the gap in Abuja's urban poor housing. The study explored,how to effectively, adequately and sustainably, accommodate the housing needs of the Abuja urban poor and by so doing, start reducing Abuja slums, squatter settlements and homelessness. The research objective was to explore and find ways of addressing the problems of Abuja urban poor housing and Abuia Master Plan, which resulted in unplanned territorial settlements,urbanization and homelessness within the urban poor settlements. To collect empirical and significant data on the Abuja area's settlement patterns and determine appropriate designs that would promote and encourage the exploration of sustainable housing for the Abuja urban poor. Developable lands are inaccessible to the unprivileged ones and that 2005 to 2010 received more land applications and approvals since the creation of the Abuja FCT. The development of the Federal Capital City (FCC) and the territory were not consistent with the goals and objectives of the master plan and also,Abuja is futuristic, but not sustainable and the study recommends for the government to make sustainable, urban poor settlements, adopt architectural theory of high rise and row housing in accommodating the urban poor population in need of housing. The high rise and row housing need to embrace facilities promoting industry and commerce, where the urban poor can live and work, promote tourism, entrepreneurship and make their communities sustainable. The study recommends that Abuja government should make lands and resources available to the Abuja urban poor as that will lead them to sustainability and enable them connect with the rest of the economic world. Government should educate and expose the Abuja urban poor to new and innovative ways of living and government equally, needs to direct her attention to the problems of urbanization,homelessness, population and their consequences especially, as they affect human settlements,growth,development and the resources to sustain them. 

Keywords: urbanization, distortion, population, retention, and sustainable.