Design Factors as Determinants of Neighborhood Quality in the Urban Area of Ibadan, Nigeria

Neighbourhood in many Nigerian cities had been designed without proper consideration of design principles, which invariably affect the residents’ quality of life. This s tudy assessed the experts and residents’ perception of design correlates of neighbourhood quality in the urban area of Ibadan. Data were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. A ques tionnaire survey and direct observations were used to acquire the primary data. A sys tematic sampling technique was used to select one of every 5th building after the firs t house had been selected randomly. Data collected were analysed using percentages, Correlation, and Multiple Regression. The results revealed that the majority of 87.9% residents s trongly agree that the building lines were s trictly followed. The majority of 86.7% s trongly agree that the practice of enclosure of space and gating is common in their area. The results of experts’ assessment of Design Characteris tics Indices (DCI) indicated that Alalubosa GRA was adjudged to be very good with DCI of 4.09, followed by Kolapo Ishola with 3.58 DCI. The Multiple Regression Analysis results showed that design characteris tics were related significantly with neighbourhood quality (p 0.05). The result indicates F–value of 1.026E5 and P–value of 0.000a. Furthermore, the results of Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient revealed s trong and significant correlations between neighbourhood quality and the design factor at either p 0.01 or p 0.05 significant levels. The need to consider significant design factors that comprised: variability, tidiness image/milieu, territoriality, connectivity, consis tency, legibility and density among others by Planners and Architects in planning and designing adequate neighbourhood as important.