Effects of Environmental Degradation on Urban Development in Enugu State

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of environmental degradation on urban development in Enugu State. It was guided by two specific objectives and two corresponding research questions and hypotheses. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population comprises staff of the Nigeria Environmental Standard and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and residents of Enugu metropolis, numbering 820,030, out of which a sample size of 400 was obtained. A self-structured 5-Likert scaled questionnaire was used for data collection. Mean statistics was used for analysing the responses to the research questions while a one-sampled t-test was used for testing the hypotheses. It was found that environmental degradation has a significant negative effect on the social infrastructure/amenities and economic activities in urban centres in Enugu State. It was specifically revealed that environmental hazards such as erosion, flood, industrial and domestic wastes in urban centres destroy residential and commercial buildings, economic crops, strain scarce finances, affect school and hospital structures and cause other social problems; that healthcare centres and personnel are likely to be affected as well, even alternative medicine sources are usually destroyed by environmental degradation and ultimately human lives are lost outright in extreme cases. The study recommended among others that in-depth mass awareness should be adopted while a healthy and safe development pattern should be continually done to discourage indiscriminate housing developments that block drainages and natural waterways. Also, proper waste management mechanisms by residents should be enforced to mitigate the spate of indiscriminate refuse dumps, which often block water channels and canals.