The Anambra State House of Assembly has passed a motion calling on Governor Willie Obiano to initiate policies that will tackle urbanization problems in the major towns in the state.
The lawmakers asked Obiano to direct the Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development to develop sustainable policy to accomplish this.
The resolution followed a motion sponsored by Honourable Douglas Egbuna representing Onitsha North I constituency and seconded by Hon. Beverly Ikpeazu-Nkemdiche of the Onitsha South II constituency during plenary on Thursday.
The Deputy Speaker, Honourable Paschal Agbodike, who presided over the plenary, then put up the motion which was unanimously adopted through voice votes.
Hon. Egbuna in elucidating on the motion said the future cities will no doubt offer immense possibilities to enrich the lives of inhabitants even as the challenges are stark.
But to make the best out of this inevitable urbanisation, he continued, good policies must be designed and developed that will contribute to more sustainable building practices and also contribute more positively to the environment as well as create mini-cities within cities to meet the anticipated rising demands of the urban populations.’’
Egbuna expressed worry that major cities in Anambra such as Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi were already witnessing these challenges especially, with respect to needing homes, offices and amenities to suit people’s rise and lifestyle.
According to him, in 2009, the United Nations (UN) observed that the number of people living in urban areas were 3.42 billion people and surpassed the number of people living in rural locations who were 3.41 billion people.
This he explained showed that for the first time, the world became more urban than rural and that by 2050, according to the same report, it is expected that the world population will rise to 10 billion and two-thirds will be dwelling in urban cities.
“This global issue of social mobility from rural to urban cities will bring about major problems in various cities.
“Whether they are crowded into high-rise dwellings or scattered around the edges of sprawls or ghettos, people will definitely need homes, offices, and amenities to fuel their rise and lifestyles.
“I am concerned that urbanisation problems carry with them hefty price tags in terms of pollution, use of virgin resources, wastes and edging out of native plants and animal population”, he said.
