As global communities gather today to assess the state of the living environment, the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) has called for the co-creation of knowledge and co-design of solutions to manage urban anomalies through inclusion, community engagement, and strengthened municipal capacities.
Joining the rest of the world to mark this year’s World Habitat Day (WHD) themed “Urban Crises Response,” the institute described the topic as apt, saying it draws attention to the critical dimension of sustainability in human settlements. “Urban areas must be free of crises before livability standards can truly improve,” it stated.
WHD, observed on the first Monday of October each year, was established by the United Nations to reflect on the state of towns and cities and the basic right of all people to adequate shelter. This year’s focus is on addressing the multiple crises affecting urban areas, such as climate change and conflict, which exacerbate inequality, while highlighting tools and approaches for effective crisis response.
NITP President, Dr Ogbonna Chime, emphasised the need for continuous public participation in policy formulation, lawmaking, and programme implementation related to urban management. “It is only when residents and stakeholders are carried along those Nigerian cities can become crisis-free environments,” he said.
He urged policymakers to adopt context-specific and coordinated urban management strategies rooted in socio-economic realities, rather than relying on imported models. Such approaches, he noted, would ensure proactive and preventive measures rather than reactive responses to urban challenges.
“There is an urgent need for city managers to prepare all categories of physical development plans, as this remains critical for effectively responding to urban disorders. Private sector partnerships should also be strengthened in the provision and management of urban services,” Chime said.
The institute identified urban spaces as vital engines of development and key contributors to national economic growth. However, it noted that urban crises in Nigeria are multidimensional, spanning social, environmental, and economic dimensions.
These include overpopulation, congestion, social unrest, slum proliferation, poor health standards, and environmental degradation caused by extreme weather events, poor waste management, land depletion, flooding, heat waves, fire disasters, and pollution. Economically, the challenges manifest as market failures, urban poverty, deterioration of public services, and weak financial capacities of both residents and local governments.
According to NITP, the drivers of urban crises are linked to population dynamics and the high demand for land to develop housing, roads, railways, schools, drainage, and healthcare facilities. These pressures, the institute warned, have serious implications for governance and urban management.
“Political forces tend to be more pronounced in cities because of their higher governance and service demands,” Chime observed. He noted that Nigeria’s responses to urban crises have historically been reactive, often taking the form of fragmented public interventions, ad hoc private initiatives, or alignment with global frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The institute cautioned that the impacts of urban crises extend beyond city boundaries, influencing regional economies and the ecological balance of surrounding hinterlands. It also highlighted the growing vulnerability of urban dwellers, especially those in informal settlements and coastal communities, to climate-induced crises resulting from poor land use planning.
“Many of these challenges are not just consequences of natural climatic forces but are aggravated by weak planning and inadequate service provision,” Chime added.
