**2. Urban administration's historical antecedents in Ibadan city**

Urban administration according to Fabiyi (2017) is a branch of public administration designated for ordering, re-ordering, regulating, and controlling urban systems and urban land uses for the purpose of human comfort, convenience, urban esthetics or city's branding, and economic and environmental sustainability. Urban administration is quite different from land administration based on the unique pivotal focuses of urban administration, which are: *human comfort*, *convenience*, *urban esthetics* or *city branding*, and *economic and environmental sustainability.*

Ibadan had been an urban area before the Colonial Administration, therefore semblance of city administration in Ibadan has been in practice prior to the coming of colonial powers. Ibadan was a military camp of the Oyo Empire, which as governed by the military prowess of Basorun Ogunmola and other successive Generalissimo in the Yoruba empire that dominated major part of the west African subregion in the seventeenth century. During colonial administration government District Officer (DO) was appointed to administer Ibadan city and the authority span Town planning and Environmental health. Paper planning was also introduced by the colonial masters. The suburb in Ibadan known as Gbagi was derived from the establishment of survey beacons by the colonial government, which was known at that time as pegging, and this was the initial approach to introduce prepared plan before implementation on the ground.

Ibadan also benefitted from a different arrangement of urban administration since the colonial era was first introduced in Ibadan. The district officer of the colonial government was in charge of town administration including the health and building sectors. After independence in 1960, Ibadan was the capital city of Western Region and was under the jurisdiction of the regional government of the day.

The regional government established metropolitan authority to control the development of Ibadan city and in 1976, during the local government reforms, Ibadan was the capital of Oyo state and was also under metropolitan authority that was fully in-charge of building and land use zoning in the city. However, subsequent local government reforms during the military era saw Ibadan fractionated

**267**

**Figure 1.**

*Administrative map of Ibadan City (source: Author's compilation, Feb 2020).*

*Digital Urban Administration Model for a Traditional City (Case Study of Ibadan, Nigeria)*

**Figure 1** shows the location of Ibadan city with the 11 local government areas. Fabiyi [5] identified the partitioning of cities into diffesrent local government areas

The reform therefore contributed to haphazard developments in Ibadan and limited the capacities of local planning authorities to direct and monitor the development of the city. The reform also brought some form of constraints to the development of Ibadan city. Some attempts to introduce wholistic urban administration in Ibadan was sustainable Ibadan Project (SIP) by UNHabitat in Nigeria. The project was sponsored by the UNHabitat and was one of the three cities in Nigeria selected for the project, which were Ibadan, Enugu, and Kano. The city has benefited different arrangement of the comprehensive Technology assisted city administration such as Ibadan Sustainable project under the auspices of UNDP Suitable city project

The project introduced a number of novel initiatives to improve city administration in the ancient city, but was limited because the actors were not allowed to domesticate most of the novel initiatives of the project. After the expiration of the grant project, most of the database created disappeared and the knowledge base gradually filtered away from state service. There was no concrete sustainable plan by this project for continuous learning and transfer of knowledge to the coming generation of civil servants. There was no mechanism to replace or repair system

There were also different donor-funded projects in Ibadan such as World Bank, UNDP, and DFID among others centered on improving the city management but the knowledge and the data generated often disappeared after the expiration of the

Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP) was established in 2014 through a credit facility from the World Bank group. The project was a direct response to 2011 flood disaster in Ibadan that carted away millions of Naira properties and damaged many urban infrastructures in Ibadan city. The main goal of the project was to build capacity of Oyo state to respond to incessant urban flooding in Ibadan city that has become persistent for long time. The project (IUFMP) developed a series of master plans, which include Ibadan City master

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92125*

breakdown and obsolete equipment.

in 1991.

project funds.

as a major setback to urban administration in Nigeria.

#### *Digital Urban Administration Model for a Traditional City (Case Study of Ibadan, Nigeria) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92125*

**Figure 1** shows the location of Ibadan city with the 11 local government areas. Fabiyi [5] identified the partitioning of cities into diffesrent local government areas as a major setback to urban administration in Nigeria.

The reform therefore contributed to haphazard developments in Ibadan and limited the capacities of local planning authorities to direct and monitor the development of the city. The reform also brought some form of constraints to the development of Ibadan city. Some attempts to introduce wholistic urban administration in Ibadan was sustainable Ibadan Project (SIP) by UNHabitat in Nigeria. The project was sponsored by the UNHabitat and was one of the three cities in Nigeria selected for the project, which were Ibadan, Enugu, and Kano. The city has benefited different arrangement of the comprehensive Technology assisted city administration such as Ibadan Sustainable project under the auspices of UNDP Suitable city project in 1991.

The project introduced a number of novel initiatives to improve city administration in the ancient city, but was limited because the actors were not allowed to domesticate most of the novel initiatives of the project. After the expiration of the grant project, most of the database created disappeared and the knowledge base gradually filtered away from state service. There was no concrete sustainable plan by this project for continuous learning and transfer of knowledge to the coming generation of civil servants. There was no mechanism to replace or repair system breakdown and obsolete equipment.

There were also different donor-funded projects in Ibadan such as World Bank, UNDP, and DFID among others centered on improving the city management but the knowledge and the data generated often disappeared after the expiration of the project funds.

Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP) was established in 2014 through a credit facility from the World Bank group. The project was a direct response to 2011 flood disaster in Ibadan that carted away millions of Naira properties and damaged many urban infrastructures in Ibadan city. The main goal of the project was to build capacity of Oyo state to respond to incessant urban flooding in Ibadan city that has become persistent for long time. The project (IUFMP) developed a series of master plans, which include Ibadan City master

**Figure 1.** *Administrative map of Ibadan City (source: Author's compilation, Feb 2020).*

*Sustainability in Urban Planning and Design*

each of whom controlled a fraction of the city.

before implementation on the ground.

developing economy.

superintended planning and urban administration activities in Ibadan city [3]. Under the 1976 Land use Act, the lands in the cities were put under the custodianship of the state executive governors while the custodianship of rural lands were under the control of the local government administration and the chairmen [4] (Fabiyi, 2006). The state governors combine the administration of the state with that of the capital cities, a responsibility that is considered to be too burdensome for a single administration. There were no mayoral platforms or municipal administration to superintend the management of the city. Later in 1991, Ibadan city was fractionated into 11 local government area councils, therefore putting the city under the control of 11 chairmen and Head of Local government Administration (HLA),

The chapter examines issues around the implementation of digital urban administration in Ibadan and proposes a model for a robust digital urban administration in Ibadan city, Nigeria. It suggests organogram, technical arrangement, and training program to ensure successful implementation considering the low resources available for such activity in a developing country like Nigeria. It identified geo databases and Urban Spatial Data Infrastructure as ingredients in achieving sustainable digital urban administration in Ibadan or any similar organic city of a

**2. Urban administration's historical antecedents in Ibadan city**

Urban administration according to Fabiyi (2017) is a branch of public administration designated for ordering, re-ordering, regulating, and controlling urban systems and urban land uses for the purpose of human comfort, convenience, urban esthetics or city's branding, and economic and environmental sustainability. Urban administration is quite different from land administration based on the unique pivotal focuses of urban administration, which are: *human comfort*, *convenience*, *urban esthetics* or *city branding*, and *economic and environmental sustainability.*

Ibadan had been an urban area before the Colonial Administration, therefore semblance of city administration in Ibadan has been in practice prior to the coming of colonial powers. Ibadan was a military camp of the Oyo Empire, which as governed by the military prowess of Basorun Ogunmola and other successive Generalissimo in the Yoruba empire that dominated major part of the west African subregion in the seventeenth century. During colonial administration government District Officer (DO) was appointed to administer Ibadan city and the authority span Town planning and Environmental health. Paper planning was also introduced by the colonial masters. The suburb in Ibadan known as Gbagi was derived from the establishment of survey beacons by the colonial government, which was known at that time as pegging, and this was the initial approach to introduce prepared plan

Ibadan also benefitted from a different arrangement of urban administration since the colonial era was first introduced in Ibadan. The district officer of the colonial government was in charge of town administration including the health and building sectors. After independence in 1960, Ibadan was the capital city of Western Region and was under the jurisdiction of the regional government of

The regional government established metropolitan authority to control the development of Ibadan city and in 1976, during the local government reforms, Ibadan was the capital of Oyo state and was also under metropolitan authority that was fully in-charge of building and land use zoning in the city. However, subsequent local government reforms during the military era saw Ibadan fractionated

**266**

the day.

plan, Ibadan Flood Risk and Drainage Master Plan, Ibadan Solid waste Master plan, and Ibadan Flood Risks and Early Warning Systems apart from other structural engineering interventions. These instruments produced huge data sets in the spatial data dimension, which have the potential to kick start a holistic urban spatial data infrastructure to drive digital urban administration in Ibadan city. Urban administration in Nigeria has largely been analog and data management had been through paper/hard copy exchanges. Even in many large cities such as Abuja, Lagos, Porthacourt, and Ibadan, building permits are largely done through paper drawings and exchanges of papers. In 2004, digital urban GIS was popularized by Obasanjo Administration with Abuja GIS, which was meant to deliver a robust urban administration to the national capital city. Unfortunately, Abuja GIS promised so much but delivered so little in that it regressed to mere land administration tool that could not respond to the dynamics of the rapidly growing city. Some cities also attempted urban GIS for the purpose of land administration but the huge cost expended on most of these ventures is a far cry from the products and the benefits to the societies. The states that have attempted digital land administration in form of urban GIS include Nasarawa, Kaduna, Lagos, Kano, Kwara, and Rivers among others. It is expected that these attempts at city administrations will help introduce modern mechanisms to city management in such a way that many urban problems would go away; unfortunately, however the challenges are still much in those cities.

The closest to electronic urban administration in few Nigerian cities are land information systems often christened as Urban GIS. The popular Abuja GIS and the similar experiments in Kaduna, Nasarawa, and other states have concentrated on the property titles rather than a comprehensive urban administration through electronic means.

Oyo state government had through World Bank Credit facility developed a Comprehensive Ibadan City Master plan, which also produced a robust digital database of both the existing urban component and proposed development strategies to the year 2036. The digital spatial databases delivered with the development of city master plan provided a start off point to initiate a robust digital urban administration in the city.
