Urbanization attracts numerous and multifarious challenges that transverse across nations, regions, and continents. These challenges limit the potential of the cities, making them unsatisfactory and inefficient as well as plunging some towards collapse. This paper explores a review of academic outputs on different challenges of urbanization bedeviling cities in Nigeria and identifies a porous cities management system that allows a wide gap of in-balance between numerous urban dynamics. Undesirable effects and negative outcomes such as urban disharmony, reduction in the quality of the urban environment and urban life, and limitations to the potential of the cities in meeting needs are pointed out. The perspective of achieving sustainable city development in Nigeria in terms of improving the quality of the urban environments came to the fore by recommending a smart city approach for managing city developments.

The plight of the urban poor towards achieving adequate and satisfying housing accommodations remains a recurring decimal in Nigeria. Previous housing policies, concepts, strategies, and initiatives failed to establish a long-term sustainable housing delivery for this particular urban populace with recurrent quality and quantity shortages. This article underlines the challenges facing housing delivery for the urban poor and the need for appropriate and timely developmental strategies to ensure sustainable and effective housing delivery in Nigeria. It examines housing policies, housing conditions, and the constraints of sustainable housing delivery for the urban poor through a systematic review of academic outputs. It was discovered among others that sustainable housing delivery for the urban poor in Nigeria is challenged by the factors of incessant and unmatched urbanization, lack of socio-cultural considerations, economic realities, neglect of urban core, and inappropriate housing policies among others. The paper contributes to the body of knowledge on housing delivery from the perspective of the urban poor and concludes by highlighting some recommendations that are likely to obliterate the challenges identified and discussed.

Cultural streetscape is a remarkable street scene that embodies the local culture. It helps in defining and defending urban forms, improves the physical, economic, and socio-cultural mechanisms of urban streets, provides street views for buildings, and shares communal activities and identities. Streetscape is a significant and multi-dynamic component of urban design that contributes to the success of cities and towns. However, as a result of constant urbanization and neglect, African streets that were previously sites of different cultural expressions and local beliefs are quickly turning into areas devoid of local values and meaning. More so, the significance of a cultural streetscape that facilitates ingenious street views, solves ecological challenges, and retains the local memory of places is becoming scarce in the literature. Through an in-depth interview, analysis of pertinent academic outputs, and firsthand observation of the core residential areas of Oyo town, this study revealed the value and significance of cultural streetscape in building, shaping, preserving and sustaining local place identity. Proper archiving and infusion of cultural streetscape elements into the old and new streets design are necessary to ensure Yoruba place identity does not completely become void.

This study investigates the knowledge of Architects in the practice of designintentions, communications, principles, and expressions of architecturaldesign in selected Architectural practices to improve architectural designdelivery in Southwest Nigeria. Data collection was enhanced with astructured questionnaire from 250 participants comprising practicingArchitects at various levels. The survey data were analyzed by descriptivestatistics and the key finding is that Architects' practice knowledge of intentions,communications, principles, and expressions of architectural design in the studyarea is very high. Appreciably, 66.6% of the respondents use pure lines tocommunicate design intentions, 25% of the respondents communicate throughforms and shapes while 4.2% of the respondents each use geometry and materialsas elements of communication of architectural intentions. The Pearson Correlationanalysis to establish relationships between the tested variables reveals significantrelationships between the meaning of architecture and visual communication ofarchitectural intentions (p < 0.05; r = 0.359). This study recommends thatArchitecture as a utilitarian art requires the effective and clear conveyance ofthought through pure visuals, clear lines, forms, and materials to communicateclear intentions, culture, personality, and status as well as create an importanthuman-environmental link.

Individuals' spatial experiences differ but, in many cases, the local environment and the society at large constitute huge influences on life experiences. COVID-19 is the current life experience that affects physical, societal, as well as residential wellbeing globally. It causes radical changes in the meaning, perception, and individual behaviours in and around residential housing spaces with lots of implications worth researching. This paper through survey examined the spatial experiences presented by the pandemic; its impacts on the spaces and other factors that constitute huge changes in human household behaviours within the low-income neighbourhoods in Akure, Nigeria. It was discovered that individual houses serve as the first line of defence against COVID-19; the lockdown imposed on cities and other precautionary measures also necessitated voluntary and involuntary behavioural changes which become visible in many households, these changes may likely be sustained after the pandemic. The paper emphasizes the need to reinforce the built environment against pandemics and also to ensure that post-pandemic residential housing designs are flexible, easily adaptable, upgradeable, and sustainable.