Application of Geographic Information Systems to Assessing the Dynamics of Slum and Land Use Changes in Urban Core of Akure, Nigeria

Ancient city centres are characterised by inadequately planned/unplanned land use and unsecured tenure system, leading overtime to the development of different forms and grades of slum in and around urban core area. This research studied the slum in the urban core of Akure, Nigeria deploying tools of Geographic Information System for comprehensive analysis of slum peculiarity for guiding action. Descriptive and analytical methods based on field survey and extraction of information from satellite images were utilized. The study examined the existing situation in the study area in terms of its housing system, conditions of infrastructure, socio-economic status of respondents and adequacy of livelihood with respect to slum indicators as defined by UN-Habitat (2003). The study revealed specific areas of higher degree of slum conditions and a representation of level of changes in land uses. Another finding shows high rate of conversion, mainly from residential land uses to other uses as the major characteristic of land use changes in the area. Poverty has constituted a dominant factor for continued existence of slum conditions due to paucity of employment opportunities. The study further discovered diverse manifestations of slums within a locality attributed to factors such as strong family linkages, structure of property ownership and high level of economic dependency. Economic empowerment through aids and supports for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), development of market network strategy for Akure and development of a comprehensive land use plan that would ensure sustainable growth of the city core area are canvassed.