ABSTRACT
The essence of town planning regulations in urban centres is to ensure that activities are organised and developed in physical space with due consideration for protection of public interest which includes health, safety, convenience, efficiency, energy conservation, environmental quality, social equity, social choice and amenity. The planning regulations are the various town planning framework (technical and legal) put in place which are to be strictly adhered to in order to achieve the goals of orderly development within the society. The study therefore examined the effects of planning regulations and identified issues that could be resolved to enhance commercial property values in metropolitan Lagos using Ikeja and Victoria Island as case study. Respondents were Estate Surveyors and Valuers practising in Ikeja and Victoria Island areas of the metropolis. A total of one hundred and ten (110) structured questionnaires were administered on the respondents. Data collected were analyzed using frequency count and percentages, mean and standard deviation, Pearson’s correlation and linear regression. The study revealed that there was a significant relationship between planning regulations and commercial property values. It also revealed that there was a significant difference in the individual effect of various planning regulations on commercial property values as development control, zoning, setback/ air space, plot coverage and parking requirement that affected property values in the outlined descending order. It is therefore recommended that government should ensure proper land use planning and that people should be made to comply with all statutory regulations. There is also the need for the proper coordination of all government agencies responsible for land use activities.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Various authorities and scholars (Sukuran & Ho, 2008; Owei et al., 2010; Nnah et al., 2007) have given different definitions of town and physical planning. According to Sukuran and Ho (2008), town planning system is principally a system of preventive control of various land uses patterns where the controlling authority would not allow any approval for development activity if adverse impact on surrounding environment was visualized. Town planning can be seen as a means of increasing the values of private and profitable uses of land. Yet fragmented and multiple private interests in land restrict private owners from altering radically or enhancing the overall pattern of use, and multiple ownership simultaneously retards the transfer of land to more profitable users and inhibits large –scale development. Therefore, in this context, town planning can be seen both as means of establishing complementarity of land uses while keeping conflicting uses apart through such devices as zoning, and as a means of speeding up the transfer of land between uses. By creating a climate of greater certainty; the zoning and density control aspects of town planning eliminate some of the imperfections of the property market, and enable land to move more readily to its highest and best use (Balchin, et al., 1995)
Owei et al. (2010) described physical planning as a process aimed at achieving orderly physical development with the overall aim of evolving a functional and live-able environment where individual and common goals can be achieved. The above definitions infer that planning is aimed at helping the society achieve various beneficial goals. Planning is regarded as a mechanism for the government to exercise its control on the urban development process.