A Qualitative Narrative of the Lived Experiences of Informal Settlements Dwellers within Port Harcourt Municipality during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Asian Journal of Environment & Ecology · pp. 47–57 · Published 3 Dec 2022
10.9734/ajee/2022/v19i4418Abstract
The formation of informal settlements is increasing rapidly, especially in some developing economies such as the Port Harcourt Municipality in Nigeria. These settlements are vulnerable to several urban challenges from natural and anthropogenic disasters, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The landscape of Port Harcourt Municipality is inundated with the proliferation of informal urban settlements especially around its southern fringes, which has engendered these settlements to become vulnerable to the vagaries of any occurring disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study attempts to unfold residents' lived experiences in these informal settlements to get the narratives of their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of forty-one (41) informal settlements were identified, out of which three (3) of those settlements (Okrika, Nembe and Ibadan) were selected purposively due to ease of accessibility, safety and spread around the municipality. The study adopted the qualitative approach by applying semi-structured interviews with key informants in these selected informal settlements. A total of nine (9) key informants were selected, with three (3) comprising the head of the community development committee (CDC), Youth and Women representatives from each settlement were interviewed. In addition, photographs of these selected informal settlements were taken to depict the characteristics of those settlements. Content analysis was used to analyse the outcome of the interviews. Some key findings include poor orientation of residents regarding disease spread, no effective urban renewal scheme to improve residents' quality of life, no proper planning of those settlements and residents were not included in the planning of those settlements. This study recommends proper enlightenment of residents regarding the management of disease spread. The provision of sustainable measures that will build resilience and adaptive capacities for the dwellers and continuous urban renewal schemes to ensure the provision of basic social infrastructure that would improve the residents' quality of life. However, the study concludes that the identification and characterisation of informal settlements will provide a better understanding and knowledge of the settlements as a resource to improve the social and economic conditions of the dwellers, distribution of infrastructural facilities and services, and wealth, thereby enhancing the quality of life and wellbeing of the residents and the general urban affairs as this will equally present opportunities for proper urban planning and management.
References (24)
- 1 United Nations Human Settlements Programme—UN-Habitat [DOI]
- 2 Flood risk assessment for informal settlements [DOI]
- 3 Human Geography: Landscapes of Human Activities
- 4 The political underpinnings of cities’ accumulated resilience to climate change [DOI]
- 5 A neglected issue: informal settlements, urban development, and disaster risk reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean [DOI]
- 6 Race, Gender, and Communications in Natural Disasters [DOI]
- 7 Changes of urban wetland landscape pattern and impacts of urbanization on wetland in Wuhan City [DOI]
- 8 Towards guidelines for post‐disaster vulnerability reduction in informal settlements [DOI]
- 9 Disaster risk construction in the progressive consolidation of informal settlements: Iquique and Puerto Montt (Chile) case studies [DOI]
- 10 Environmental Consequences of Rapid Urbanisation: Bamenda City, Cameroon [DOI]
- 11 The Development of a Focus for the Geography of Settlement [DOI]
- 12 Flood disaster vulnerability in informal settlements in Bursa, Turkey [DOI]
- 13 A Rapid Assessment Scorecard to Identify Informal Settlements at Higher Maternal and Child Health Risk in Mumbai [DOI]
- 14 THE ROLE OF CITY AUTHORITIES IN CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN SLUMS IN GHANA [DOI]
- 15 ON THE NATURE OF SETTLEMENT GEOGRAPHY [DOI]
- 16 Risk Communications: Flood-prone Communities of Kuala Lumpur [DOI]
- 17 Manifestations of ‘capabilities poverty’ with learners attending informal settlement schools [DOI]
- 18 The Squatters of Port Harcourt, Nigeria: Their Identity, Wants, Characteristics and Policy Options
- 19 Settlement Dynamics In The Northern Fringes Of Port Harcourt Metropolis
- 20 Mediterranean journal of social sciences [DOI]
- 21 Vulnerability to Landslides [DOI]
- 22 Journal of construction project management and innovation [DOI]
- 23 What is Policy, Social Policy and Social Policy Changing?
- 24 Global urban growth: a reference handbook [DOI]
Cited by 7
Eyenghe, Tari, Brown, Ibama · Asian Journal of Geographical Research · 2023
Asadullah Hanif, Jalil Ahmad Zakiri, Shakib Mirzahi · City, Culture and Society · 2024
David Victor Ogunkan, Abdugafar Oladimeji Oyewol, Olusegun Peter Akinpelu · Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Urban Design and Planning · 2025
Showing 3 of 7 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.
Related research
- Knowledge, Attitude and Predisposing Risk Factors of Non-Albican Vulvovaginal Candidiasis among Symptomatic Women in Port Harcourt — shares topic coverage
- Implanon Implant Contraception at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital: A Periodic Review — shares topic coverage
- Associated Factors in the Declining Trend in the Use of Progestogen Only Injectable Contraceptive in a Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria — shares topic coverage
- Urinary Pathogens amongst Parturients at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, South-South, Nigeria — shares topic coverage
- Assessing the HIV Knowledge, Awareness, and Utilization of YFS among Undergraduates in Rivers State, Nigeria — shares topic coverage
Article metrics
Real usage data collected on this platform.
27
Page views
0
PDF downloads
12
Outbound clicks
7
Citations
Views over time
Views by country
Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".
Traffic sources
Referring site, by host.
Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.