The rapid urbanization which is common feature of countries of developing nations since the last century has constituted
great threat to urban sustainable development. It is against this backdrop that this paper examines the urbanization trends
in Ilorin, Nigeria. The data used for the study were obtained from secondary sources. Some of these data include
population growth of Ilorin since pre-colonial era, annual population growth, spatial expansion of Ilorin between 1960
and 2010; and Built-up area of Ilorin from 1986-2006. Findings from this study show that the spatial expansion of the
study area was propelled by rapid population growth i.e. in 1931 the total population of the town was 100,592, it grew to
208,546 in 1963, while in 1991 Ilorin population was confirmed to be 532,088 by the National Population Commission
and it is believed that by the year 2020 the population of Ilorin will reach 3,518,771 based on projection. Moreover with
the spate of the growing population, demand for land to build houses was on the increase, thereby causing the physical
growth of the study area. For instance the built-up area of study area was 1235.84 Ha in 1960, and in 1980 it was
3170.24Ha and in 2010 the physical built-up area reached 14,306.71Ha. In addition, the study revealed that as the built
up area is increasing due to population growth, the land consumption is also increasing, for instance the land
consumption rates in hectare of land use was 0.0054 in year 2003 and in year 2012 it has reached 0.0091. The study
recommends integrated National programmes for spatial distribution of population and to this effect priority
consideration should be given to the preparation of master plan which will make provision for a more equitable system of
distribution of development in all areas. This will no doubt address the issue of rapid urbanization and thereby enhance
sustainability of the city.