Paper Title
Land use Conversions and Rental Value Regime in an Emerging City. The Awareness, Attention and Action

Abstract
The recent trend inresidential land use commercialization in Osogbo the capital of Osun state, Nigeria has been described as alarming. It is against this backdrop that this paper assessed the influence of the continuous but unguided residential landuse conversions on the rental values of residential properties along Gbongon road, area hithertocharacterized with residential development in Osogbo metropolis with the aim of ascertaining the level of awareness, attention and the actions of both government and private property owners in unravelling the effect of use conversions on rental values. In a bid to achieve the aim of the study, 205 questionnaires were administered on property owners or tenants andEstate Surveyors and Valuers, only 181 questionnaires representing 91% were correctly filled and returned for analysis. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The study discovered thatconverted buildings command higher annual average rental valuein the study area. Converted buildings to either shop or office space is mostly predominant in the study area.Converted properties with the highest rental value trend shows the fastest investment fund recoupment potentials but deplete the available residential housing stock. This has created an unenviable property rental regime in the city. It is on these findings that the study therefore recommend among other things the introduction of property identification numbers for all properties in the city of Osogbo, effective and efficient land use conversion and management mechanism as well as incentive for residential property developers. Keywords - Land Use Conversion, Residential Properties, Rental Values Regime, Emerging Cities