Exploring geologic-cost factors in flood prone housing construction in coastal communities of the Niger delta
Year: 2016
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: The right to adequate housing is one of the key sustainable development goals of the \nUnited Nations, and a fundamental human right. Community-based adaptation is also a \ncentral theme in building resilience to flooding. The Niger Delta Region of Nigeria is the \n9th largest wetland in the world, through which the River Niger discharges into the \nAtlantic Ocean. As such, the geotechnical and hydrological characteristics of most parts \nof the Niger Delta area dictate the necessity for effective practical measures to satisfy the \nengineering demands of the highly compressible silty clay soils for housing construction \nin coastal communities. Field work data gathered from local builders in Bonny Island \nreveal the implied technicalities of managing and coping with terrain related factors, \nwhich translate into additional cost for projects in riverine areas, and whose prohibitive \ncost has been termed ‘unfeasible’. Considering the numerous cases of building failure \nand collapse in the Niger Delta region, it is thus worrisome that private speculative \ndevelopers may resort to taking shortcuts, which may undermine the safety of building \ninhabitants. Due to the scarcity of suitable lands, the recognition that coastal \ncommunities in the Niger Delta can only cope with issues of flooding by devoting funds to \nadequate structural adaptation mechanisms in buildings has thus become pivotal. Against \nthe backdrop of the astronomical cost of housing in the Niger Delta, this study analyses \nthe geo-environmental factors contributing to the high cost of construction, as a basis of \ncreating heightened awareness of the need to institute relevant policy driven technical \nchecks and capital incentives to small scale developers, who provide the bulk of housing \nin coastal communities.
Author: AI Amadi
Language: English
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2591698291