Physical Planning Administration and Opportunities for Private Planning Practice in Nigeria
Abstract
Many Nigerians consider the practice of urban and regional planning/town planning to be purely a public sector dominated activity. Unfortunately, many graduates of urban and regional planning/town planning are also enslaved by this thinking. They look up to government alone for employment into the ministries, parastatals and agencies concerned with the practice of physical planning, such as the ministries of Urban Development and Renewal, Capital City Development Authorities and Physical Planning Directorates of Institutions such as the Universities and Polytechnics, etc. Considering the rising number of Urban and Regional Planning graduates in Nigeria yearly, the employment opportunities available in the public sector may continue to shrink. The aim of this study therefore was to examine the Nigerian legal framework of the physical planning administration to reveal and highlight the opportunities available for private planning practice in Nigeria. The study has identified ten opportunity areas that can be harnessed for private physical Planning practice. They include; landscape planning and development; recreational planning and development; transportation and traffic planning; advocacy services; geographic information systems services, etc. The researcher observes that opportunity areas are not limited to those identified in this study but that there are no limits to what a qualified planner can do to solve the preponderances of human/environmental interrelated problems in our society. With good knowledge in the subject and skills on the available contemporary technological tools and ingenuity on the part of a trained Town Planner, he can become problems solver, self-employed and employer of labour.
Author
- Ekong E. Daniel
Centre for General Studies
Akwa Ibom State University, Nigeria