1.1 Introduction
Road development in Nigeria could be said to have started with the need to connect one community to another through foot paths as the need for trade and commercial, inter dependence grew. It was an era when settlements started to discover that there were socio- economic needs that could only be met by other settlements which must be approached for such facilities. Infrastructural facilities in urban area are essential developmental projects targeted at the need of the people to make life convenient for carrying out economic activities and is subjected to public regulation in terms of standard and pricing. Cities are engines of growth, incubators of innovations and centre of social transformation. Therefore urbanization is important for diversified and dynamic economies which increase natural productivity (Ude, 2008).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Road development in major Nigeria cities including Owo town has been developing with the conventional land use approach (Jiboye 2005). This has generated diverse urban problems manifesting in the form of deterioration of cities into slums, pollution, congestion, unsanitary condition and epidemics. Most Nigeria cities are reputed to be the dirtiest, most unsanitary, least aesthetically pleasing and dangerously unsafe for living (Agbola 2002). They are characterized by non-functioning road infrastructural facilities and road furniture, most poorly governed, intensively dotted with illegal structures, while physical growth and development of the roads in the cities had not been properly managed or controlled (Aluko 2000).
More roads were constructed but without the components that make traffic environment safe and without care full plan for maintenance and soonest its overshadowed by bushy road potholes, signs that are often pulled down by inexperienced drivers.
Transport infrastructure is widely recognized as one of the factors influencing the level of commercial activities of a country and its economic growth. An undeveloped road furniture , infrastructure network is a barrier to the free movement of people, goods, services, capital and production factors (Malago, 2005). The belief that transport infrastructure and road furniture have significant impacts on the development of urbanizations and cities economies has often been used to justify allocating resources to road construction and expansion, roads, bridges, overhead bridges, packing spaces, signs and traffic light with transit system to deliver economic, social benefits, easy congestion by connecting localities and firms to local and regional markets, aid the delivery of farm produce to markets, connect places of production with centers of sales and enable individuals to reach places where needs can be satisfied.
Inadequate roads and road furniture is a significant inhibitor to urbanization and commercial activities, it is a level of serious bottlenecks taking place due to an expansion of the private sector, lack of road construction and expansion lead to poor communication, constrain to network, commercial activities as it hinders them from moving goods, services over a geographical location. Owo town has an extensive landscape with a lot of resources endowment spread over the city; this therefore requires the need for movement of goods and people between places. This has significantly shaped the existing road transport system as well as the development of transport itself. Owo town then does not have extensive infrastructure of road system. Over the years different administration that have ruled Ondo State since its creation have not consistently accorded a key role to the transport or road sector to facilitate the economic opportunities, which lead to backward part of the state capital and does not encourage business activities. This implies that missing network as a whole means a significant reduction in the potential productivity of the State or Owo city. The neglect of road transport, road construction, road expansion and road furniture will lead to a lower productivity of the other production factors as the case often is in many State capital of the nation.
Therefore, in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to examine the impact of roads development and expansion on urban cities using Owo town as a case study.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that the impact of road development insolving the urban transport problem, since road development promotes outward expansion of cities because transport remain the key to the understanding of the land use changes.
Owo town have been developing with the conventional land use approach (Jiboye 2005). This has generated diverse urban problems manifesting in the form of deterioration of cities into slums, pollution, congestion, unsanitary condition and epidemics. The growing size of population of Owo town, the narrow roads increasing in car ownership and general lack of discipline on the part of drivers are creating traffic problems in Owo town and this is further exacerbated by the concentration of most of the working places in the same area (Aderamo 2002).
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the impact of roads development and expansion on urban cities using Owo town as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To explore the relationship between road development and expansion of Owo city in Ondo State
- To investigate the factors mitigating the development and expansion of Urban Cities in Owo town
- To assess the impact of road transportation in the Owo urban city
- To examine the role of road development and expansion in traffic management and social economic development of Owo town.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Are there factors mitigating the development and expansion of Urban Cities in Owo town?
- What is the relationship between road development and expansion of Owo city in Ondo State?
- What is the impact of road transportation in the Owo urban city?
- What is the role of road development and expansion in traffic management and social economic development of Owo town?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: There are no significant factors mitigating the development and expansion of Urban Cities in Owo town of Ondo State
- H1: There are significant factors mitigating the development and expansion of Urban Cities in Owo town of Ondo State
1.7 Significance of Study
It is believed that transport infrastructure and road furniture have significant impacts on the development of urbanizations and cities economies has often been used to justify allocating resources to road construction and expansion, roads, bridges, overhead bridges, packing spaces, signs and traffic light with transit system to deliver economic, social benefits, easy congestion by connecting localities and firms to local and regional markets, aid the delivery of farm produce to markets, connect places of production with centers of sales and enable individuals to reach places where needs can be satisfied.
This study will be of immense benefit to researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the impact of roads development and expansion on urban cities using Owo town as a case study.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Development: This is the level of physical environment, social, political and economic growth or civilization of the people.
Local Government: This the third tier of government within the state charged with the responsibility of development and administration of the people.
Government: This is the agency of the ruling class, which is charged with the responsibility of exercising the state powers on behalf the people.
Rural Area: This connotes the Interior or remote parts of the local government which the central government wants to develop by creating local government.
Industrialization: Is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one, involving the extensive re-organization of an economy for the purpose of manufacturing.
