SPATIAL PATTERN OF INTRA-URBAN POVERTY OF ADO-EKITI, SOUTH WESTERN NIGERIA

Every nation in the world, developed or developing has a number of the population living below the poverty line. There has been explosive growth in global urban population as a result of natural population growth and rural to urban migration. Most inhabitants in World's cities experience urban poverty. There is the need to know who the poor are and where they are located hence, this study focuses on the evaluation of intra-urban poverty of Ado-Ekiti through the application of Geographical Information Systems. The data used for the study were collected through the administration of 510 copies of well-structured questionnaire. The Stratified Random Sampling technique was used in the administration of the questionnaire and the result was subjected to Factor Analysis Statistics. The following factors: Income, Housing and Housing characteristics (14.65%), Commerce and Communication (8.98%), Educational facilities (5.72%), Roads and Drainages (4.99%) and Water facilities (4.08%) were mapped. It was discovered that there was a spatial variation in the intra-urban poverty of the capital city. The farm settlement ward was found to be the poorest compared to other wards. It was recommended that Geographical Information Systems should be applied to test-run some of the developmental policies and programmes before the actual implementation by the government and other donor agencies.