Land accessibility and implications for housing development in Kano Metropolis, Nigeria.

The thesis explores access to land with particular reference to implications for housing
development in Kano metropolitan area, Nigeria. It specifically addresses access for the urban
low-income groups who are more likely to experience housing difficulties because of their socioeconomic
disadvantages. The thesis provides an in-depth empirical and theoretical analysis of
policy formulation and implementation with respect to land and housing in Nigeria. Two
research methods are utilised to generate the required data for the study; a questionnaire survey
and semi-structured interviews.
The thesis is divided into two parts; the first part addresses the philosophical and methodological
issues employed in the research and introduces the contextual background of the study. The
second part presents the major empirical findings of the study. Chapter Five discusses past and
present access to land in Kano metropolis. It explores how policies relate to the operation of an
illegal land market and explains the implications of this for the proliferation of informal
settlements. Analysis has shown that state policies have benefited most members of the Kano
community. Chapter Six discusses the policy process concerning land and housing in Kano and
considers the interface between policy guidelines, policy implementation and the success of the
state housing programmes especially in the metropolitan area. The chapter shows that there is a
wide gap between policy formulation and policy implementation, a reason that has affected the
success of government land housing policies in Kano. Lapses in policy formulation, unnecessary
bureaucracy, government officials playing the role of 'gatekeepers', corruption and shortages of
basic working equipment were identified as major obstacles to achieving effective and efficient
land allocation and housing development in Kano.
Chapter Seven unravels the housing experiences of Kano residents concerning how they acquired
or built their residences, the type of moral or financial assistance they utilised and their
satisfaction with facilities in their respective residences. It shows how residential and
neighbourhood satisfaction varies among different socio-economic groups and among
households residing in different neighbourhoods. The study notes a general dissatisfaction with
the government's provision of services and infrastructure in the entire metropolis.