Movement on the edge of cities: intra-urban mobility in peri-urban communities in south-west Nigeria

Abstract

Mobility plays a crucial role in joining activity's locations to each other, enabling social contact and facilitating the movement of people and goods to and from various locations. This study investigates the mobility characteristics of peri-urban communities in selected cities of south-west Nigeria. Using a stratified sampling technique, we selected 505 respondents from the 11 peri-urban communities for the questionnaire survey. The data were summarised using frequency, mean and mode, while ANOVA and Chi-square were used to test for a significant difference in inter-community and gender variations in mobility variables. Over 80% of respondents work within the peri-urban interface, indicating increasing decentralisation of activities. Most respondents (81.4%) indicated that the roads in their communities were not paved, with adverse effects on their mobility. Transit modes were informal, with more than 33% of the respondents relying on motorcycles for their mobility needs. Mobility characteristics among peri-urban dwellers vary from one community to another and between gender. The peri-urban dwellers are mobility-starved due to failed infrastructure and informal transit services. All tiers of government should prioritise improving road infrastructures and extending public transit services that enhance sustainable mobility to city peripheries.