'We Must Minimise Increase in Urban Poverty and Squalor'

from All Africa

Daily Trust (Abuja)

The rapid urban migration which has increased with the growth of our population in the last few years now poses fresh challenges to government and other stakeholders in the housing sector.

These challenges which include but not limited to declining infrastructure, non adherence to town planning and building regulations, lack of access to basic health facilities, poor sanitation and environmental pollution call for new strategies.

Chief Chuka Odom, at the occasion of the rapid urban sector profiling for sustainability (RUSPS) training for the preparation of structure plans for three cities, held in Anambra State in November 2007, said one of such strategies is to develop new urban centers and aggressive urban renewal schemes.

'We must find a way to minimise the increasing urban poverty and squalor which has increased crime rates in our cities. The target should be simple. Clean and affordable urban housing for the low income group. It is a tested and proven strategy which has brought sustainable growth and development to countries like China, India and of late, Indonesia,' the minister said.

At the African Ministers' Conference on Housing and Urban Development held in Durban, South Africa in 2005, part of the declaration was that in Africa, rapid population growth has been accompanied by rapid urbanization. The pace of socio-economic development in urban centres has not been matched by parallel development of infrastructure and social service facilities. In some cities, the population living in slum areas reaches more than 60 per cent. Consequently, the majority of the populations in some of the African cities live in abject poverty, illiteracy and in poor housing conditions.

In the next 30 years, Africa's population will double from 888 million in 2005, to 1.77 billion. During the same period, the urban population will increase from 353 million, which is 39.7 percent, to 748 million inhabitants at the rate of 4 to 5 percent per annum. In the next 30 years, roughly 400 million people will be added to the urban population. As highlighted in the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the process of urbanization is intrinsic to economic and social development.

In 2001, about 61 percent of all African urban residents lived in slums, with 54 percent of these in sub-Saharan Africa and 7 percent in Northern Africa. Even more notable is the slum incidence in sub- Saharan Africa, where 71.9 percent of the urban populations currently live in informal settlements. In addition to the situation above, 57 percent requires access to improved sanitation and 43 percent to improved sources of water.

Rural-urban migration is a key component of urban population growth. Other factors in Africa contributing to this migration are civil wars and natural disasters such as drought and flooding. Urban areas have become the refuge for populations driven out of their homes because of fighting. Refugee camps which are located near towns for ease of access to emergency assistance, have become permanent features in the human settlements of the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa and several West African countries. Twenty million refugees are in need of protection and assistance right now. An additional 25 million are currently displaced within their own countries as a result of violence and human rights abuses.

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