URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS

Abuja the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria has tremendous importance in the country's life and development. It is a hotbed for political fermentation, such that generates centripetal attraction from all corners of the country, perhaps nowhere has the need for judicious use and preservation of exhaustive land resources become imperative in Nigeria today than the Federal Capital City. From the outcome of the panel set up by the Federal Government led by Justice T.A Aguda to relocate the Federal Capital Territory from Lagos to Abuja, an 8,000km2 land was carved out of the central region of the country to serve as the Federal Capital Territory for the Nation. There was a misconception that the original inhabitants' population to be resettled was only between 25,000 and 50,000. However, a later survey in 1984 revealed that their actual population was about 150,000. More than 30 years later, this population has multiplied many times as a result of natural increase and migration.

The formation and further development of the federal capital city has attracted the influx of diverse ethnic groups to settle alongside with the indigenous people of Abuja. This development has resulted in the urbanization of the Abuja city. Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria located within the Federal Capital Territory. The city was developed in the 1980s but was formed in 1991. Abuja city host the federal government as the sit of power of the presidency and is the administrative and political headquarters of the country. Abuja" was in the earlier 20th century after a nearby town now called Suleja. The indigenous inhabitants of Abuja are the Gbagyi (Gwari) as the major language, Bassa, Gwandara, Gade, Ganagana, Koro etc. Consquently the urbanization of the city leads to drain on basic amenities as water, housing, land use, social amenities etc. and thereby requires expansions on infrastructures and basic amenities.

Urbanization is not merely a modern phenomenon, but rapid and historic transformation of replaced by predominantly urban culture. The last major change was the accumulation of hunters- gatherers into villages many thousand years ago. Village is characterized by common bloodlines, I timate relationships and communal behaviour whereas urban culture is characterized by distant bloodlines, unfamiliar relations, and competitive behaviour. This unprecedented movement of people is forecasted to continue and intensity in the next few decades. The process of urbanization is increasing in both the developed and developing countries. However, rapid urbanisation in particular the growth of large cities and the associated problems of unemployment, poverty, inadequate health, poor sanitation, urban slums and environmental degradation pose a formidable challenge in many developing countries. Available statistics shows that more than half of the world 6.6 billion people live in urban areas, crowded into 3% of the earth's land area (UNFPA, 1993).

Urbanization is not merely a modern phenomenon, but rapid and historic transformation of replaced by predominantly urban culture. The last major change was the accumulation of hunters- gatherers into villages many thousand years ago. Village is characterized by common bloodlines, I timate relationships and communal behaviour whereas urban culture is characterized by distant bloodlines, unfamiliar relations, and competitive behaviour. This unprecedented movement of people is forecasted to continue and intensity in the next few decades. The process of urbanization is increasing in both the developed and developing countries. However, rapid urbanisation in particular the growth of large cities and the associated problems of unemployment, poverty, inadequate health, poor sanitation, urban slums and environmental degradation pose a formidable challenge in many developing countries. Available statistics shows that more than half of the world 6.6 billion people live in urban areas, crowded into 3% of the earth's land area (UNFPA, 1993).

In recent times, small and medium scale business has been a major source of revenue to most urban dwellers in Nigerian cities. World Tourism Organization (2016) has pointed out that hotels are now regarded as one of the best monuments in developed and developing countries of world. First class hotels in Abuja, Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Calabar, Kano, Kaduna, etc now rank one of the best tourist attractions in Africa. This is evidence that hotels and recreational centers serve as tourism centers through the provision of tourism facilities in most Nigerian Cities (Fred, 2017). Awaritefe (2004) opined that environmental perception is one of the psychological processes that occur as a result of the interaction of humans with their environment. Awaritefe (2003) emphasize the significance of positive perceptions by consumers in their selection of holiday resorts. This implies that small scale hotels plays significant role in the development of Oleh.

The fingerprint of human activity has been detected in the recently observed warming on global and continental scales (Christidis et al 2011: 1922). This was also confirmed by Riebeek (2007:1) when he said that scientists have evidenced that humans are to be blamed for the global warming that is happening now due to the fact that for decades cars and factories have spewed billions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and these gases tend to make temperature to rise.

Soil is an important resource covering the land surface. Mining is the process of getting minerals and soil components for various uses. Man depends on soil for agriculture, construction and even as a habitat for various organisms (Mwangi, 2007). People benefit from soil particularly sand and gravel but interfere and disturb the resource through excessive exploitation to fulfill their needs. There is worldwide concern about the environment which prompted the researcher to carry out this study on the environment. It seems there is excessive mining of soil components for construction in both rural and urban development. Gravel is mixed with river sand in filling and compacting foundations, river sand is a component of concrete in making slab while pit sand is required for plastering buildings. River sand is used in most mixtures because it is a strong resource which strengthens even pit sand in plastering and makes durable bricks (Morwaeng, 2013).

Benin City has one of the quality transport services in Nigeria which is located at ring road (Bobizua park) and third market (Osato park). Quality urban transport services in Benin City have been provided by public and private transport companies (Kantorovich, 2012). This has no doubt improved the socio-economic development of Benin City and Edo State large. This is evidence that transportation plays key role in the development of urban and rural areas. The role of transportation in economic development cannot be overemphasized. Transportation is the engine block of any society and hence provides room for effective socio-economic development and societal improvement (Ashenfelter and Card, 2015). According to Aweto (2015), transportation plays key role in urban development and nations building.

The study is on the Causes and effects of abandoned residential properties. The major objective of this research is identifying the causes of abandonment of residential properties in Benin City. Others are: To examine the effects of abandonment of residential properties in Benin City, To identify the solutions to issues of abandoned residential properties in Benin City.

Abandoned projects and construction failure including construction projects and other civil engineering infrastructure development project like houses, churches, schools, roads, bridges, dams, tunnels, air port, sea port etc. litter the whole Nigeria. Osemenan (1987) reported that Nigeria has become the “world’s junk-yard of abandoned and failed projects worth billions of naira and it is greatly unthinkable that Nigeria blessed with so great potentials in the construction projects and construction industry can experience such magnitude of project failure and abandonment.