The Role of Education in the Level of Urban Residential Space Alteration For Home Based Business : A Case Study of Asaba , Delta State , Nigeria By Izegbue

This project examined the relationship between level of education and the level of urban residential space alteration for home based business. The lifestyle of dual functioning of the home is practiced by majority of people living in both formal and informal settlements in Asaba, Delta State. This double-functioning of residential premises as both home and workplace has now become the form of life for the majority, not in usual informal settlement but in the formal settlements of Asaba, where planning officials often visit for enforcement of the laws and regulations. The study took a divergent view into the study of home based business: it looked beyond the superficial effect of home based business and focused on the underlying role which education plays in the nature, pattern of the operation of the business and in the level of alteration. This study also examined the nature of and the motives for engaging in home based business. The aim of this paper therefore is determining how operator’s level of education affect the level of residential building alteration for home based business with aim of providing information for policy framework. For the purpose of achieving the aim, four research questions were proposed to be investigated and answered by this study while Core Area layout, Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria was used as the case study area in carrying out this research. A case study approach was adopted for the course of this research; structured interviews were conducted with some staff of Delta State Urban and Regional Planning Board, the activities of seventy seven (77) home based business operators were examined; and some operators sampled were interviewed; this was used to elicit information from operators the entire neighbourhood. Systematic sampling was employed to select respondents at interval of nineteen. The findings revealed that 84.4% of the systematically sampled buildings are operating home based businesses, and their types range from commercial based, service based and light manufacturing industries. The findings show that the practice of home based business is a prevalent feature of Core Area Layout, Asaba. The findings also revealed that the motive for the practice of home based business is because it’s the major means of survival for the low income earners, supplement to the medium income earners and employment generation to the unemployed. The result of the analysis reveals a significant relationship between the levels of education of home based business operators and the level of the residential space alteration. Based on the findings, following recommendations were put forward: a shift is recommended from the strict zoning and segregation of land uses in a neighbourhood to a compatible mixture of residential with commercial, corner shops should be positioned in strategic location within residential layouts. Furthermore, the masses should be encouraged and made to see the essence of education to human development. This encouragement should be done through the provision of educational facilities and subsidizing of the fees payable.