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Owing to the continuous compaction of cities and mega cities through indiscriminate proliferation of high-rise buildings, this research investigates the livability correlates of high-rise buildings in Eti-Osa. Nearest Neighbour Analysis was used to explain the spatial pattern of the high rise buildings. Chi square was used to explain the spatial variation in land uses within high-rise buildings. Independent two-sample t-test was used to explain the spatial variation in livability. Principal component variant of factor analysis was used to generate linear composites of Relative Livability Quality Index (RLQI) while Multiple Linear Regression Analysis was used to explain the relationship between the incidence of high-rise buildings and the RLQI of the study area.High-rise buildings were clustered in the area (Rn = 0.622). There is spatial variation in land use within high-rise buildings (p = 0.000). Livability is moderately high in the study area with basic facility index of 57.8%, cost of living (88.9%), property value (86.1%), sense of safety (80.0%) and neighbourhood quality (62%). There is no spatial variation in residential livability quality (T = 0.880, p = 0.400). There is a reliable relationship between the incidence of high-rise buildings and residents’ livability (R = 0.797; p = 0.036). The study concludes that high-rise buildings have a high propensity to increase livability due to the proximity of facilities it offers. Thus, environmentally friendly green building approach to high-rise buildings and strict enforcement of development control laws was recommended.

Cellulose is the most abundant biomass in nature with properties that have enabled its application in different industrial processes. Its derivative, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose serves as an additive in food and non-food products such as desserts, detergents, paints etc. In this study, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was synthesized from cellulose isolated from three ligno-cellulosic biomass, Tithonia diversifolia stalk (TDS), Musa parasidiaca stem (MPS) and unripe peel of Musa parasidiaca fruit (MPP). The isolation of cellulose was done by soda pulping and bleached using sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide sequencing, followed by synthesis and purification of CMC. The physicochemical properties of the plant samples, isolated cellulose and bleached pulps including the synthesized CMC were determined. The effects of various processing stages on the properties of the cellulose and synthesized CMC were revealed in the study. CMC yield ranged from 62.57, 41.37 and 33.21% and the degree of substitution ranged from 0.33, 0.28 and 0.17 for TDS, MPS and MPP respectively. Further characterization of CMC using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) confirmed the presence of major expected peaks that showed differences in terms of carboxymethyl substitution as compared to that of commercial CMC. The study revealed the potential of these plants for production of industrial grade CMC. Key words: Lignocellulosic biomass, cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, soda pulping, bleaching, etherification, Tithonia diversifolia, Musa paradisiaca.