A Self-Adaptive Software Architecture Framework for Intelligent Transportation Systems in Nigerian Urban Centres

Urban transportation systems in Nigerian cities including Lagos, Abuja, and Kano operate in highly dynamic environments characterised by unpredictable demand surges, infrastructure failures, and policy interventions that static software architectures cannot adequately accommodate. This dissertation develops a self-adaptive software architecture framework for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) in Nigerian urban centres, making original contributions to adaptive software engineering theory and urban mobility technology. A design science research methodology is employed across three artefact development cycles. Phase one analyses the operational requirements and failure modes of ITS deployments in Lagos (South West), Abuja (North Central), and Kano (North West) through interviews with 30 transportation engineers and software developers and system architecture documentation review. Phase two develops the Nigerian Urban Adaptive Transportation Architecture (NUATA) framework, incorporating MAPE-K (Monitor-Analyse-Plan-Execute plus Knowledge) feedback loops, context-awareness components, and constraint-driven adaptation policies tailored to Nigerian urban conditions such as erratic power supply and heterogeneous data connectivity. Phase three implements a prototype self-adaptive traffic signal control subsystem and evaluates its adaptation behaviour under simulated Lagos traffic disruption scenarios. The prototype demonstrates a 31 percent improvement in average vehicle throughput during disruption scenarios compared to a static control baseline. NUATA is evaluated by 12 transportation software engineering experts using established framework evaluation criteria. The dissertation contributes NUATA as an original theoretical and engineering artefact, advancing self-adaptive systems research in African smart city contexts. Keywords: self-adaptive software, intelligent transportation, urban mobility, Nigeria, MAPE-K