Optimizing the Concept of Place-Making as a Panacea for Informality in Urban Areas of Developing Countries. (Published)
Informal settlements are pervasive in urban areas of developing countries. They dominate a greater percent of the cities and are characterized by poor infrastructure supply, degraded environment and poverty. Most revitalization efforts ignored informality and so fail. Yet the essence of informality speaks of the indomitable will and perseverance of the urban poor to partake in formality in the face of lack of infrastructure, services and amenities. Within this essence of informality is contained some design elements that have been used as catalyst to trigger change in place-making in some parts of the world. These elements, though untested in developing countries, have been found to work as facilitators of change in developed countries. Place-making is a concept where social and political processes are used to create value and meaning in a particular setting. This paper therefore explores the existing principles of informality found in African settlements, and compares them to urban design elements that have facilitated revitalization in developed countries with a view to making a case for the use of place-making as a possible initial approach for shaping informality in developing countries.
Keywords: Informality, Place-making, Urban renewal, slum
TOWARDS ACHIEVING URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN LOKOJA METROPOLIS, KOGI STATE NIGERIA (Review Completed - Accepted)
The rapid increase in population, coupled with increase in the rate of urbanization, had lead to unplanned and uncontrolled expansion of Lokoja town. Consequently, this scenario has caused tremendous pressure on civic infrastructure systems, housing problems and unkempt environment among others. This study was carried out with the aid of field survey using structured questionnaire, building demographic and housing facility survey. Using random sampling technique, every 5th house in the five districts involved in the study was picked for interview, with focus on investigating building characteristics, condition of sanitary and infrastructural facilities. Findings revealed that the study area exhibit slum condition which has un-denied consequences on the socio-economic lifestyle, health of residents and the general outlook of the environment. On this basis, upgrading program through the provision Urban Basic Services (UBS) and improved sanitation strategies were recommended for sustainable management of the area. These include, among others, public enlightenment campaign, environmental education and reintroduction of effective sanitary inspection.
Keywords: Environmental sustainability, UBS, sanitary inspection., slum, uncontrolled expansion