Relationship between urban planning and flooding in Port Harcourt city, Nigeria; insights from planning professionals

Flooding is widely recognised as a global problem which has worsened in recent years due to climate change. In Nigeria, flooding remains the most widespread environmental disaster with the population of 200 million suffering numerous threats from perennial flooding. Port Harcourt in Southern Nigeria experiences annual flooding on a significant scale. While research has linked the flooding in Port Harcourt to poor urban planning, little research has engaged with planning professionals to investigate this relationship. This paper fills this gap. It explores how urban planning is linked to flooding in Port Harcourt and reports on qualitative research undertaken with five urban planners in Port Harcourt. The findings affirm that poor planning and/or lack of compliance with planning regulations are the main factors contributing to the flooding of Port Harcourt. The urban planners gave their expert opinions on how to control the flooding and unanimously agreed that improved planning practices could control the endemic flooding problem in the city. This implies that the government needs to work more closely with urban planners and other stakeholders to effectively control and find a lasting solution to the flooding problem in Port Harcourt city.