ANALYSIS OF POVERTY IN ZARIA URBAN AREA AND THE URBAN MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

CHAPTER ONE

CONCEPTION AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY

1.1 INTRODUCTION:

Many African cities are urbanizing to a crisis level due to high rate of population growth and migration from rural areas to the cities. In the movement from the countryside to cities, poverty is highly evident. In some African countries (Nigeria for instance), the growth is so fast to the extent that by 2015, it is expected that there would be more people in urban areas than in rural areas. The United Nations Population Fund estimates that half of the world’s population-about 3.3 billion people will be living in urban areas in 2009. It is equally envisaged that the figure will rise to five billion by 2030, the majority of whom will be poor people living in unplanned squatter settlements without water and electricity and in an environment of squalor, poverty, crime and disease. Currently, more than 7.9 million urban households, that is, about 42% of the total number of households in Africa, are living in poverty. The overall poverty situation in Nigeria is that, about seventy-seven percent (77%) of the urban households are poor and 68% of rural households are poor (FOS, 1996).That is, that poverty is becoming more of urban than rural phenomena.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) brought poverty unto the global agenda and stimulated a new commitment by all nations to the battle against poverty. Measurements to improve the quality of life by reducing poverty are therefore receiving greater attention than ever before the world over. Over past decades, city managers and activists have faced an urgency to respond to the plight of the urban poor.

Rapid urbanization places enormous pressure on cities to use their limited resources to meet or facilitate the increased demand for water, sanitation, electricity, basic education, health, housing and transport. With rapid growth of cities comes the typical urban dimension of poverty. Poverty is defined as the human condition characterized by the sustained or chronic deprivation of the resources, capabilities, choices, security and power necessary for the enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. Poverty is a common plague afflicting people all over the world especially in the less developed countries. The factors that influence poverty are high inflation rate, unemployment, bad economic policies, huge wastage of scarce resources and bad governance. The problem of poverty in Nigeria has not only become entrenched and multifaceted over the years, but has defied efforts at eradication. Poverty is associated with the lack of, or inadequate necessities of life such as food, clothing, light etc.

ANALYSIS OF POVERTY IN ZARIA URBAN AREA AND THE URBAN MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS