Building resilience is about making people, communities, and systems better prepared to withstand catastrophic events, whether natural, climate change-driven, or man-made. Cities like Abuja can bounce back more quickly and sometimes even emerge stronger from those shocks and stresses. Abuja's experience includes floods, building collapse, earth tremors, fire incidences, and other emergencies, some of which are natural, while others are caused by human negligence and violations of extant rules and regulations.
The Rockefeller Foundation defines resilience as the ability of a system, entity, community, or person to withstand shocks while still maintaining its essential functions and to recover quickly and effectively. Key variables of resilient cities include embracing density, diversity, and a mix of uses, users, building types, and public spaces. Prioritizing walking as the preferred mode of travel and developing in a way that is transit supportive are also crucial. Additionally, conserving and enhancing strong, vibrant places and providing the needs of daily living within walking distance are essential.
The master plan for Abuja's development was designed with international best standards and practices in mind, incorporating various urban design variables. The city development is implemented in stages, with some areas and districts being reserved due to resource availability and government priorities. However, the ongoing massive violation of the city's development plans is a major threat to ensuring Abuja's resilience. The city's resilience will come to bear when the impediment is eventually dislodged, according to veterans and keen observers.
One of the key aspects of Abuja's development plan is the provision of transit facilities, including the transit way corridor for future implementation. However, this has been frustrated by serial violations that threaten its future implementation. The resilience of the city is being challenged. Similarly, the provision of 33 percent of the city land devoted to greening in the original city development plan is crucial for ecological balance, mitigating the threat posed by global warming, and ensuring visual quality and improvement of aesthetics.
Greening is promoted through tree plantings along streets and stream lines, preservation of natural forests, creation of artificial parks for recreation, and planting of trees in all premises within the city. However, a major important aspect of greening that is being neglected is food production through urban agriculture. All these efforts go a long way in enhancing the city's resilience potentials. Regrettably, the land use and city development requirements are constantly being violated by the authority itself, despite the adverse consequences.
The land allocation procedure in Abuja has been compromised, with plots being allocated without assigning a purpose clause, which is supposed to be determined by an approved land use plan for the districts. The actual allocation now precedes the procedure for allocation, and sometimes even the preparation of the land use plan. This has led to a situation where the city's resilience potentials can only be ensured when the development plans are respected.
Ensuring city resilience in Abuja requires that the development plans be implemented as designed. The city's master plan recognizes the importance of greening, transit facilities, and other essential components of a resilient city. It is essential that the authorities adhere to the plans and procedures to ensure the city's resilience and mitigate the threats posed by climate change and other catastrophic events.
Key points
- The ongoing massive violation of Abuja's development plans is a major threat to ensuring the city's resilience.
- Greening is crucial for ecological balance, mitigating the threat posed by global warming, and ensuring visual quality and improvement of aesthetics in Abuja.
- The city's resilience potentials can only be ensured when the development plans are respected.
