Regulating Urban Sprawl in a Planned African Capital City: Evidence from Planning and Development Professionals in Abuja, Nigeria

Urban sprawl increasingly threatens the sustainability of rapidly expanding African cities, particularly where formal planning frameworks are weakened by implementation failures. This study examined the relationship between development-control implementation and urban sprawl in Abuja, Nigeria’s purpose-built federal capital. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2024 using structured questionnaires administered to 220 development-control officers, registered town planners, and property-development professionals. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression. A supplementary GIS-based morphological analysis of settlement centres and major transport corridors was undertaken to illustrate the spatial pattern of urban expansion across the FCT. The findings revealed a high perceived magnitude of urban sprawl, with a grand mean of 4.20, characterised by rapid satellite-settlement growth, peri-urban land conversion, low-density development, and expansion ahead of infrastructure provision. Development-control mechanisms were recorded as low in effectiveness (grand mean = 2.82), while implementation constraints were severe (grand mean = 4.23), particularly weak enforcement capacity, inadequate monitoring, political interference, and low developer compliance. Development-control implementation was strongly and negatively associated with urban sprawl (r =- .612, p < .001). It also explained 34.0% of the variance in respondents’ assessments of built-up-area expansion (R^2 = .340, F (1,218) = 112.41, p < .001). The GIS interpretation indicated a predominantly radial and corridor-led growth pattern, characterised by continuous suburban expansion around the planned core and satellite-town growth along major transport axes. The study concludes that strengthening implementation capacity, regulatory compliance, digital monitoring, and infrastructure-led growth management is essential for containing Abuja’s peripheral expansion.