THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ISSUES: AN ASSESSMENT OF DEVELOPMENT CONTROL CHALLENGES OF PRIVATE REAL ESTATE PROJECTS IN AJEGUNLE OYO, OYO STATE.

Abstract

One of the challenges in African built environment is that of development control and most real estate projects do not conform to minimum standards, this attributed to number of factors. This study therefore assessed those factors that constrain effective development control especially that of private real estate projects in Ajegunle, Oyo with a view to proffering solutions for a sustainable practice. The research employed field survey approaches; the data obtained were analysed using tables and simple percentages, as well as mean item score (MIS), which was used for ranking. Through observations, interviews and review of related literature, the constraints militating against effective control of developments were identified. These were public, institutional, personal and logistics constraints. The study also determined the extent to which these identified constraints contributed to the challenges in the study area. It was discovered that public constraint was ranked the first followed by institutional constraint. Among individual constraints, political interest, highly politicised staff, ineffective development control procedure and lack of means of transportation were also ranked first respectively. Cases of violations of minimum set standards were also identified. The work recommended that efforts should be made to tackle identified challenges taking note of the fact that safety and issues of sustainability of the built environment is a collective responsibility, so both the agency in charge of development control and developers (the community where projects are sited) should try as much as possible to ensure that developments they embark upon do not constitute nuisance other adjoining uses..