MAPPING HOUSING AFFORDABILITY STRESS AND RESIDENTIAL DISPLACEMENT IN CALABAR METROPOLIS, NIGERIA: A GIS-BASED ASSESSMENT OF MIGRATION FLOWS TO LOW-COST PERI-URBAN SETTLEMENTS 54 36
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.83374/jesber.vol1no1.17Keywords:
spatial planning, Calabar Metropolis, house agents, peri-urban expansion, GIS mapping, rental inflation, residential displacement, Housing affordabilityAbstract
This study examined housing affordability stress and residential displacement in Calabar Metropolis, Nigeria, with emphasis on the role of house agents in rental inflation and the spatial movement of residents to low-cost peri-urban settlements. An integrated descriptive survey and GIS-based spatial analytical design was adopted. Data were obtained from 1,650 respondents through structured questionnaires, field observation, GPS-based spatial tracking and housing records. Descriptive statistics, hotspot analysis, kernel density estimation and origin-destination flow mapping were used for analysis. Findings showed marked spatial variation in rental costs, with Etta Agbor, Marian, Goldie and Calabar South recording the strongest housing pressure. House agents exerted strong influence on rent inflation through agency fees, artificial rent increases, weak rent regulation and limited tenant negotiation power. Relocation flows were strongest from Marian to Ikot Nakanda, Etta Agbor to Ikot Esu and Calabar South to Ikot Edem Odo. The study concludes that unregulated rental intermediation is intensifying affordability stress, displacement and peri-urban infrastructure pressure, requiring stronger rent governance and inclusive spatial planning.Downloads
References
Adu-Gyamfi, A., Owusu-Addo, E., Inkoom, D. K. B., & Asibey, M. O. (2022). Peri-urban interface: An alternative residential location of low-income migrants in Kumasi, Ghana. Cities, 123, 103570.
Afolabi, H., Adekunle, O., Adetayo, O. D., Adeyemi, T. R., Olugbamila, O. B., & Oyedele, O. I. (2025). Assessment of residents' socioeconomic characteristics and their pattern of residential mobility in Osogbo, Nigeria. International Journal of Real Estate Studies, 19(1), 48-67.
Akande, O. K., Olubajo, O. O., & Ibraheem, Y. (2024). Quality and perception of public housing provision in Nigeria and implications for low-income earners. Journal of Salutogenic Architecture, 3(1), 164-181.
Akinbami, B. S., Ibrahim, A. T., Abdul-azeez, B. M., & Adeleke, D. B. (2026). Intra-urban migration as a challenge to rising housing cost in Ilorin, Nigeria. PLASU Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2(2), 43-57.
Alasmari, F. (2025). Affordability, preferences, and barriers to multifamily housing for young families in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Buildings, 16(1), 167.
Ayeni, A. O., Aborisade, A. G., Aiyegbajeje, F. O., & Soneye, A. S. O. (2025). The dynamics of peri-urban expansion in sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for sustainable development in Nigeria and Ghana. Discover Sustainability, 6(1), 290.
Crisci, M., Degli Uberti, S., Pelliccia, A., & Santurro, M. (2025). Patterns and motivations of intra-urban residential mobility in a Southern European metropolis: The case of Filipino migrants in Rome. Population, Space and Place, 31(1), e2875.
Dantzler, P. A., & Urban Policy Collective. (2022). Housing affordability, market interventions, and policy platforms in the 2022 Ontario provincial election. Sociology Compass, 16(11), e13046.
Demehin, M. O. (2022). Urbanization, urban-slum settlements and its implications on health: An insight from Lagos State, Nigeria. International Journal of Social Sciences: Current and Future Research Trends, 13(1), 117-132.
Ebrahim, A. (2025). Nexus of crisis: A GIS-based spatial analysis of transportation infrastructure and housing strategy for sustainable urban reconstruction. Available at SSRN 5403820.
Erhabor, F. O., Usman, A. K., Arigbede, Y. A., Njoku, C. G., & Itu, P. C. O. (2019). Analysis of urban growth pattern in Calabar Metropolis using the Shannon entropy model. Sokoto Journal of Geography and the Environment, 1(2), 70-84.
Etienne, N. (2025). The impact of high living costs, urban agglomeration, and inequality on the core economic drivers of urban out-migration in Sub-Saharan African cities. Tanzanian Journal of Population Studies and Development, 32(2), 41-57.
Fente, M. F., Abebe, B. G., & Woldeamanuel, M. G. (2025). Exploring the nexus of migration dynamics and urban expansion: Key drivers of horizontal spatial growth in Woldia Township, Ethiopia. Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 6, 1517341.
Findeisen, F. (2022). The housing crisis in superstar cities: Labour markets, price inflation, and financialization. European Journal of Sociology/Archives Européennes de Sociologie, 63(3), 363-392.
Grewal, A., Hepburn, K. J., Lear, S. A., Adshade, M., & Card, K. G. (2024). The impact of housing prices on residents' health: A systematic review. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 931.
Hossain, M. I. (2025). Finding an affordable place to live: Socio-economic challenges of middle-income communities in Khulna, Bangladesh. ISVS e-journal, 12(04).
Issar, S. (2022). Conceptualizing the connections of formal and informal housing markets in low- and middle-income countries. Housing Studies, 37(5), 789-808.
Karakadzai, T., Bandauko, E., Chaeruka, J., & Arku, G. (2023). Examining the conformance of development to local spatial plans amid rapid urbanisation in Harare, Zimbabwe. Land Use Policy, 126, 106543.
Kohl, S., Li, B., & Cui, C. (2025). Housing segregation in Chinese major cities: A K-nearest neighbour analysis of longitudinal big data. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 121, 102326.
Lee, Y., Kemp, P. A., & Reina, V. J. (2022). Drivers of housing (un)affordability in the advanced economies: A review and new evidence. Housing Studies, 37(10), 1739-1752.
Lewinson, T. (2026). Using policy to address unaffordable and unavailable housing. In Social, racial, economic, and environmental justice: Building social work practice skills (p. 239).
Liao, H. L. (2025). The effect of rezoning on local housing supply and demand: Evidence from New York City. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 104188.
Liu, T., Wang, J., Liu, L., Peng, Z., & Wu, H. (2025). What are the pivotal factors influencing housing prices? A spatiotemporal dynamic analysis across market cycles from upturn to downturn in Wuhan. Land, 14(2), 356.
Maina, J. J., Sagada, M. L., & Hassan, S. M. (2026). Factors influencing residential satisfaction within student housing facilities in the near-campus neighbourhood of Samaru Zaria, northwest Nigeria. Facilities, 44(1-2), 82-99.
Mast, E. (2023). JUE insight: The effect of new market-rate housing construction on the low-income housing market. Journal of Urban Economics, 133, 103383.
Mijani, N., Shahpari Sani, D., Dastaran, M., Karimi Firozjaei, H., Argany, M., & Mahmoudian, H. (2022). Spatial modeling of migration using GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis: A case study of Iran. Transactions in GIS, 26(2), 645-668.
Nchor, J. U. (2022). Housing problems and vulnerability in Nigeria's informal settlements (Doctoral dissertation, Newcastle University).
Njoku, C. G., Okon, I., Itu, P. C., & Otese, A. V. (2017). Population growth and pipe-borne water supply in Calabar Metropolis: Finding the balance. International Journal of Research in Geography, 3(3), 51-59.
Njoku, C., Etim-Inyang, I., Itu, P. C., & Uzoezie, A. (2022). Geospatial assessment of site suitability for tilapia cage culture in Cross River State, Nigeria. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture, 38(2).
Okey, P. C. (2025). Drivers of Nigeria's real house prices: Long-run analysis and short-run dynamics. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 18(1), 196-226.
Olaniran, T. O., & Aule, T. T. (2025). Systematic approach to sustainable urban development: Reviewing challenges of informal settlements and peri-urban growth in sub-Sahara Africa. Urban, Planning and Transport Research, 13(1), 2495660.
Omowa, J. B., Owolabi, B. O., Anthony, A. P., Badmus, A. A., Fosudo, P. O., & Oyebanji, T. J. (2023). Effects of population growth on housing demands in Ondo State, Nigeria. Net Journal of Social Science, 11(1), 34-48.
Oyalowo, B. (2022). Implications of urban expansion: Land, planning and housing in Lagos. Buildings & Cities, 3(1).
Schnelzer, J. (2025). Becoming displaceable, feeling displacing, un/doing displacement: Conceptualizing urban residential displacements as dissimilar experiences amidst the global housing affordability crisis. Urban Geography, 46(4), 794-816.
Shakespeare, R. M. (2025). Mapping the desirable and affordable city: Middle-income renter perceptions of housing opportunity. Urban Geography, 46(6), 1408-1431.
St-Hilaire, C., Brunila, M., & Wachsmuth, D. (2024). High rises and housing stress: A spatial big data analysis of rental housing financialization. Journal of the American Planning Association, 90(1), 129-143.
Ubugha, P. O., Okpiliya, F., Njoku, C. G., Itu, P. C. O., Ojoko, T. I., & Erhabor, F. O. (2017). People and water: Empirics of Calabar Municipality, Cross River State, Nigeria. International Journal of Research in Environmental Science, 3(2), 8-18.
Yamane, T. (1967). Statistics: An introductory analysis (2nd ed.). Harper & Row.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Environental Sciences and Built Environental Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
All articles are published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Users may share, adapt, and distribute the work provided appropriate credit is given to the authors and JESBER.
