IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY OF RAINBOW TOWN PORT HARCOURT BY UPGRADING (A CASE STUDY OF RAINBOW TOWN, Port Harcourt)

BY

CHINWO, THOMPSON HOMA MATRIC NO F/HD/09/3530354

SUPERVISED BY

D.O YUSUF

DEPARTMENT OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES YABA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY YABA, LAGOS

MARCH 2011 INTRODUCTION 1.0 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Urbanisation is now an accepted feature of the modern world. The world has become progressively more urban and less rural, with the process of urbanisation often closely intertwined with development. This urbanisation process, however, has not necessarily resulted in a better quality of life for everybody, producing a situation that effectively contravenes the principles of sustainability. An urgent need exists in the cities of developing countries to accommodate rapid population growth, provide essential infrastructure, address the problems of rapidly deteriorating physical environments and, above all, to improve housing, especially for the poor. Urban areas in developing countries are characterised by extreme differences in income and living condition across population groups and often have high rates of poverty Crutch (2005). The extent of urban poverty is difficult to measure; the poor in urban, face multiple problems. They are extensively dependent on a cash economy and have limited productive assets, such as land and housing. Many pay excessive prices for necessities such as shelter and live with the continual threat of eviction from their dwellings (Olaseni and Nubi 2006) as cited in Iyanda (2009). Many urban areas in Nigeria today have gone into decay. The Nature of decay can be attributed to many economic factors. This phenomenon of decay is manifested more on the residential structures which are in short supply because of increasing demand always more than supply. This result to overcrowding and rapid increase in rent levels. The available houses become unaffordable to the urban poor, therefore forcing them to shanties and slum development.

Slums are usually referred to as settlement illegally occupying land and lacking in basic services coupled with poor environmental quality and living condition. Slums can vary from high density, squalid central city tenements to spontaneous squatter settlements without legal recognition or rights. (The World Bank Notes 2004) The United Nations has defined slums as buildings, groups of buildings or areas characterized by overcrowding, deterioration, unsanitary conditions or absence of facilities or amenities which, because of these conditions or any of them, endanger the health, safety or morals of its inhabitants or the community. National , State and Local Government all over the world have attempted to address slum problems in various ways and one of the them is city upgrading ( another paradigm shift to urban renewal slum clearance). At its basic level, city upgrading involves enhancing living conditions in slums and bringing basic services to their dwellers. This includes improving and / or installing basic infrastructure such as water, sanitation, solid waste collection, access roads and footpath, storm drainage, lighting, public telephones and other community services. Upgrading also deals with regularizing security of land tenure and housing improvements as well as improving access to social and municipal services. (The World Bank 2004). City upgrading is broadly defined as physical, social, economic, organizational and environmental improvements undertaken cooperatively among citizens, community groups, business and local authorities to ensure sustained improvements in the quality of lives for individuals Cities Alliance (2003). More specifically, the primary goals of

upgrading projects are to provide secured land tenure in informal and often illegal areas, and to improve basic infrastructure and service delivery Gulyani and Connors (2002). City upgrading aims at improving the housing and environmental condition, ensuring that many low income earners in the city that cannot afford the rents of newly constructed houses have better living condition and houses they can afford (HABITAT 2006). It gives an alternative to moving people by way of replacing or resettling them when upgrading work is ongoing as City upgrading consists of existing housing renovation, face lift, infrastructure improvement and provision, water and electricity supply, sanitation, drainage, tenure security etc. It is of direct and specific strategy to tackle a particular issue that could be handled at the grassroots communal base for effective implementation, management and maintenance. 1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM The Rainbow town displays problem of inadequate public facilities and amenities. They lack the most basic municipal services, such as water supply, sanitation, waste collection and thus are exposed to diseases, crime and natural disasters. They also lack schools, clinics as well as places for the community to meet and socialize. The houses have minimum lighting and natural ventilation. This condition affects the health of the inhabitant so they often get disease such as dysentery, diarrhea, etc. The other problem is that they are living in the dangerous area. There are no environment programs established in study area to achieve better living condition since

this area is recognized as slum area. Furthermore, the community lacks education in terms of to live in the better ways such as the knowledge of cleanliness, healthy life, etc. The study area displays problem of inadequate housing stock. Housing in the study area is predominantly of temporary structures, and the needs of the urban poor are not meet.

1.3

RESEARCH QUESTION

For the purpose of this work, the following research questions were asked.
1

Are the available housing stocks adequate for the population of the Rainbow town?

2 Are the available housing stocks affordable for the population of the study area?
3 4

Are the facilities sufficient for the population of the study area (rainbow town)? Is upgrading going to solve the problem(s) associated with the study area

5. What impact do upgrading projects have on the welfare of the population and how can they be improved to meet the needs of the urban poor? 6. Are the resident participating in city upgrading plan? 7. Are there appropriate frame work, action plan put in place for the improvement of environmental quality? 1.4 AIM AND OBJECTIVES

1.4.1 AIM To improve on the quality of the environment of Rainbow Town for the benefits of the residents.

1.4.2 OBJECTIVES
1

To improve housing situation through tenure security and access to government subsidy.

2 3

To promote practices that leads to improvement in quality of life To enforce effective development control necessary to achieve sustainable development

4 5

To encourage residents participation in city upgrading plans. Develop appropriate frameworks, action plans and recommendations for good environmental quality in Rainbow town.

1.5

SCOPE OF STUDY This research work deals with the city upgrading as a strategy for good

environmental quality in Rainbow Town in relation to the building and environmental condition coupled with the socio-economic capability of the people of Rainbow Town. It is poised at assessing the nature and condition of infrastructures like roads, drainage, buildings, water supply, etc This research work deals on the socio-economic and environmental condition. The study will look at the nature and condition of infrastructure like roads, drainage etc. Previous efforts to improve Rainbow town, components of environmental quality, how they have been affected, and the spatial coverage as defined by major streets or neighbourhood. Rainbow Town is chosen as a result of the past renewal efforts and environment improvement projects carried out one time or the other to arrest the fast failing housing, health and environmental menace.

1.6

JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY

Rainbow Town is part of Port Harcourt and settlements operate like a system. If part of it is unhealthy, it affects other parts of the settlement and the problem will be more difficult to solve. The residents have the same rights to quality environment like others and cannot be neglected. The experience facts obtained in the course of research can help in addressing similar situation in other parts of Rivers State and in Nigeria. Rainbow Town is highly populated with record of series of past renewal efforts and slum clearance. This work looks into those efforts and the current efforts in Rainbow Town by the government and addresses every dichotomies that are observed between the first-ever slum clearance and the recent exercise after many years. From the planning point of view the study is of great significance because it identified the causes of urban decay and made proposal for the eliminations of the problems associated with it. To call for city recuperation in Rainbow Town does

not deal on land use alone, but also looked into the socio-economic factors which underline physical decay in the study area. Therefore the study is relevant because it make a critical analysis of the overall situation and makes a recommendation based on findings.

1.7

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1.7.1 RESEARCH DESIGN The descriptive / survey research design will employed in this study to assess present condition of houses in the study area; the environmental , the health status of the dwellers and the level of compliance of the dwellers with development control law. 1.7.2 DATA NEED AND SOURCE Data on the socio economic characteristics of the dwellers will gathered; example of variable for such data includes the age of respondent, sex of respondent, the marital status, and the income level among others. Also data on the condition of the dwellings, and data on the environment. 1.7.3 SOURCES OF DATA The sources of data that will be used for the study are both primary and secondary. PRIMARY SOURCE OF DATA These are data obtained directly from site and the data gathered from this source formed the bedrock of this study because it is from this source that answers will be provided for the research questions. Questionnaires and interviews guides will be used to get some specific information from the public and private sector participants or stakeholder representative of the upgrading agency and the people living in the study area too. The questionnaire will be design to include data on respondents, data on household, and data on the environment.

SECONDARY SOURCE OF DATA This data source is a second hand data source, that is, data derived from text books, seminar papers, conference papers, journals and other published and unpublished dissertations to know the extent of work which have been done on city upgrading. 1.7.4 SAMPLE SIZE AND SAMPLING PROCEDURE The sample frame that will be use for this study is the total number of streets in Rainbow town which are four (4) districts. Since the streets in the study area does not have names but are divided into four districts, out of which 50 percent which is equivalent to two (2) districts will use as the sample size. In order for those two (2) to be a representative of the four (4) they will be selected from all axis of Rainbow town Multi-stage sampling techniques will be used. This approach is taken due to the fact that it is difficult to make 100 percent sampling of the population. This method is employed by dividing the districts into four and houses that fall within the coordinate will be selected. It is in each of these buildings that questionnaires will be administered on any adult living in the building and observation will also be done personally to validate the data collected. 1.7.5 INSTRUMENT FOR DATA COLLECTION The formal instrument that will be use for collection of data is a well structured questionnaire which will be administered on the residents. The designed questionnaire was in two sections (the first section is on the physical survey while the second section is on socio-economic, infrastructural, environmental quality and living condition of resident in Rainbow town).

1.7.6 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION The method that will be adopted for analyzing data in this study was descriptive statistics because the data collected will be studied and inferences will be drawn after a careful observation of these data, event and situation of the study area; Tables, pie and bar charts will used for analysis and presentation of data. 1.8 STUDY AREA OF STUDY Rainbow town is in Port Harcourt Local Government Area, the capital of Rivers State in the south-south geo-political zone of Nigeria. It used to be home to over one million inhabitants mainly of poor segment of the Nigeria society. The settlement is over three kilometres square bounded by Ogbum-nu-abali, Nkpogu, and Amadi-ama residences. Rainbow town was a low cost housing project developed by the Eastern Nigeria Housing Cooperation. Pursuant to its Public Housing Programme, the defunct government of Eastern Nigerian Housing Corporation to build affordable houses for residents of the region. To emphasize the public spirit behind the whole exercise, the corporation inaugurated a savings and loans scheme. Low and middle income earners interested in purchasing houses were encouraged to approach the savings and loan department which made funds available to beneficiaries of the scheme. Rainbow Town housing estate Port Harcourt was one of the housing schemes under the arrangement. It was originally a well planned housing Estate of mainly one-storey and single family houses, schools, churches, markets, and other social infrastructure. It contained over seven hundred units of block houses and thousands of concrete/block structures.

The inhabitants reflected by persons considered non indigenes of Rivers State in a country that has a single citizenship. It is pertinent to note that Nigerias housing crisis is most visible in Port Harcourt which unarguably attracts the highest rent for housing Eze onyekpere (2000).

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Crutch (2005): Increasing Returns and the Evolution of violent Crime: the case of Colombia. UNHABITAT Forum Publication.

Gulyani S. and Connors, G. (2002):

Urban upgrading in Africa: A Summary of

Rapid assessment in 10 Countries World Bank Africa Infrastructure Department publications. Nairobi Kenya. Iyanda (2009): impact of urban upgrading on housing quality

A case study of Lagos Island, Lagos. An unpublished Master project. University of Ibadan.

Ogionwo W. (1997) a social survey of Port Harcourt Ibadan Heinemann Education Book (Nig) limited

Olaseni and Nubi (2005):

Rescue the Perishing: MDGs Initiatives and Slum

Communities in Lagos. Paper presentation at the Urban and Regional Planning Department YABATECH National Conference. Held 10th 13th October 2006.

UN Habitat (2006): State of the World Cities. www.unhabitat.org

UNDP (2000) UNDP (2000): Notes 7. Nairobi Kenya.

Human Development Report. Word Bank Urban

World Bank note (2004): Social Development Notes and Urban Services to the Poor. Urban notes vol.1, 2, 3, and 6. www.worldbank.org/urban/upgrading/urban-notes.html