Urbanization: A Catalyst for the Emergence of Squatter Settlements and Squalor in the Vicinities of the Federal Capital City of Nigeria

From the 1990s to date, growing deterioration of urban environmental quality, and the developments of squatter settlements and squalors have gradually become the attributes of the development patterns in the Federal Capital City (FCC), Abuja and environs in Nigeria. The FCC, Abuja and the surrounding towns and settlements popularly referred to as ‘satellite towns ’ in Nigeria, are characterized by inadequate urban infrastructure, high rural-urban migration, population pressure, high cost of living, poor economic lifestyle, informal settlements and failing infrastructure. In view of these urban development dynamics and the prevailing economic situations in Nigeria, many citizens have resorted to building and settling in unapproved lands within and around the city. In attempts to maintain the designed land use and master plan of the city and to control the quality of infrastructural developments in the area, the relevant government authorities often employ the use of mass demolition of illegal constructions, and informal settlements; resulting in displacement of many inhabitants. A further repercussion of this process is the emergence of several unplanned settlements dotting the surroundings of the city area assumed to be outside the immediate development interest of the FCC authorities. This paper is therefore aimed at assessing the urbanization of the FCC, Abuja as a catalyst for the emergence of squatter settlements and squalor