Covid-19: Pathway For Urban Planning For Transformation In Owerri Municipal, Imo State, Nigeria
Francisca Nkemdilim Onah, Ph.D
School of General Studies, Social Science Unit, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
Christopher Onyemaechi Ugwuibe, Ph.D.,
Department of Public Administration and Local Government, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
Udenze, Chukwudike
Department of Public Administration and Local Government, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
Ichaba Samuel Atabo
Department of Public Administration and Local Government, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
Eze, Ifeyinwa Jennifer
School of General Studies, Social Science Unit, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
Keywords: PATHWAY FOR URBAN PLANNING, TRANSFORMATION IN OWERRI MUNICIPAL, COVID-19, Key Discernable Issues in Owerri Municipal Health Centers in Owerri Municipal
Abstract
Since Imo State experienced her index case of Corona virus in April 2020, things have rapidly changed across the state. The global pandemic has exposed extensive vulnerabilities, especially in local public health and urban planning. Owerri Municipal is a typical planned city under a master plan which however because of the self serving default of the planning authority has been abandoned with buildings, constructed on drainages and sidewalks and creating an unprecedented urban sprawl congealed in odoriferous miasma. The extensive growth in Owerri Municipal safety margins is in fact what necessitated the total lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In the absence of any significant affordable housing strategy by the state, citizens continue to explore different approaches to accommodate themselves. Often times, residents are not served by public utilities and are developed in gross violation of extant urban planning frameworks, and are thus vulnerable to health hazards. It is against this backdrop that the infection has provided an opportunity for urban planning for transformation in Owerri Municipal of Imo State, Nigeria. The study adopted the institutional theory. The research relied on a rapid review of available national and international policy documents, including those related to the pandemic, authenticated secondary sources as well as the authors’ knowledge of the subject of urban planning to articulate the viewpoint expressed in this study. The paper identified that chaos in the urban infrastructural decay emanates from deficiency in institutional weakness. The study recommended sustainable well-planned urban centers that minimize health risks from ill-equipped health care centers, dilapidated residential buildings and physical inactivity, while also mitigating future disease outbreak