Spatial Analyses of Traditional Housing and Implication for Security in Abeokuta South and Abeokuta North Local Government Areas in Ogun State

Abstract

The linkage between traditional housing and the security of lives and properties of the people has generated an issue of debate over time. Therefore, criminality, social menace and other vices become frequent in traditional areas, particularly in developing nations. Many studies on security have focused on the planned settlements of the cities, while the traditional areas have gained little attention in the literature. This study, therefore, analyses the spatial pattern of traditional architecture and its implications on the security of lives and properties of the residents of Abeokuta South and Abeokuta North Local Government Areas, Ogun State, Nigeria. A combination of location and allocation model and broken window theories was adopted. A cross-sectional survey research design was used, while both primary and secondary data were sourced. Using the Geographical Information System (GIS) ArcGIS-10, the coordinates of all (449) the houses in the traditional area of Itoko (82), Ijemo (81), Ago-oko (109) in Abeokuta South, and Ajitadidun (43), Mokola (81), Iberekodo (53), in the Abeokuta North were taken and used to generate the locational attributes of the settlements. The quantitative data were analysed using Nearest Neighbours Analysis (NNA).  The results revealed that the spatial distribution pattern of all sampled buildings at Itoko, Ijemo, Ago-oko and Ajitadun, Mokola, and Iberekodo were clustered (Rn=0.013340 and Rn = 0.049828) respectively. The security of the residents in the study area is negatively affected. Therefore, blending modern and traditional concepts to improve security in the study area is recommended.