Abstract:
Abstract
Cities have experienced dramatic growth as a result of rapid urbanization, globally. This
study examined urbanization and the pattern of infrastructural development in Karu local
government area of Nasarawa state. While cities in Nigeria as well as other parts of the world
are becoming dominant as both centres of production and consumption, the rapid growth of
Nigeria cities have seriously outstripped the capacity of most cities to provide and maintain
adequate basic services to their residents as this increasing rate does not correspond with
infrastructural provision and maintenance of existing infrastructure. This has necessitated
undue pressure and challenges on urban infrastructure. The study adopted a survey research
design and cluster sampling was used to select respondents from Mararaba, Ado and Masaka
in Karu Local Government Area. The questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection.
Descriptive and inferential statistics were the statistical tools used for the analysis. The
descriptive statistics involved the use of frequency and simple percentages while the
inferential statistics involved the use of Gamma and Z scores which show the direction and
strength of relationships between variables in the study and the test of significance. Two
hypotheses were tested by this study. The result shows a strong and positive relationship
between urban population and social infrastructure. The study also revealed that housing and
social infrastructure like road networks, and healthcare facilities among others are grossly
inadequate. In contrast, the available ones are in deplorable and bad conditions due to urbanization.
The study concluded that urbanization and population growth within urban areas hurt the environment, the available infrastructure and the residents of Karu local
government area of Nasarawa state. The study recommended that the state government
should enforce proper planning and development control policy in the area and effectively
implement infrastructural development to ameliorate the challenges confronting the area as a
result of urbanization and population growth.
