Dancing Around Land: Regulatory Procedures on Land Development

The system of planning regulations and standards in urban areas of many countries located in the Global South has been criticised due to its unrealistic ambitious standards and bureaucratic procedures. Access to formal land and shelter is put out of reach of low-income earners who have little or no choice but to end up living in unintended settlements, illegal, poorly, and haphazardly constructed structures, within the urban centres and sometimes at the urban fringes including poor access to basic infrastructure. This research carried out an assessment of land development and planning regulations in Lokoja, Nigeria by comparing formal and non-formal residential land development.