The Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON) called on leaders at all levels to engage and prioritise mentorship for youths in acknowledging the rapid urbanisation of towns and cities and developing innovative solutions towards addressing the urban crisis.

President of ATOPCON, Hakeem Badejo, gave the charge yesterday during an event held ahead of today’s 2025 World Habitat Day in Lagos, themed: “Urban crisis response.”

The United Nations-Habitat on Human Settlements sets aside the first Monday of October every year as World Habitat Day to reflect on the state of towns and cities globally.

Badejo said that this year’s celebration would serve as a deep reflection on the state of communities, towns and cities, basic rights of all, as well as basic necessities of life against urban crises, such as adequate shelter, gainful employment, access to food, and improved quality of life.

He noted that if Nigeria could achieve these, it would become possible to reverse the trends of youths escaping from the country, adding that Nigeria would earn global respect.

He, however, identified the natural crises confronting human settlements to include flash floods, inundation of streams and rivers, sea rise, landslide, forest fire, desertification, heat waves, and pollution, among others, while the man-made crises, among others, are internal displacement of people occasioned by terrorists’ attacks, communal clash, formation and enlargement of slums, blighted areas, social injustices, and inequalities cumulatively creating uneven urban settlements.

Others, he said, are waste disposals, corruption, shortage of housing stock, infrastructure deficits, lack of employment opportunities, failure to address migration of youths, failure to accept robust professional advice in the built environment, failure to act locally on acceptable international standards on human settlements and health concerns and failure to calm nerves on internal restiveness and wars in the Middle Belt.

He further charged professional town planners to put their skills to bear in shaping the future of cities and towns and never to shy away from constantly advising individuals and governments in Nigeria for the protection of ecological assets, and envision cities that protect, conserve, restore and promote the ecosystems, be it on land or water.