There are claims by some state governments that they have executed various types of slum upgrade/Urban renewal projects in their respective states. However, a lot of questions are raised as to how sustainable are the programmes/initiatives; are the beneficiaries of such projects involved in selecting and implementation of the projects; what are the challenges encountered in the course of executing these programmes?
Therefore the study intends to identify slum settlements and appraise slum upgrade/Renewal programmes/initiatives adopted by various authorities in the selected case studies with a view to identifying sustainable approaches to urban renewal and slum upgrade programmes/initiatives in Nigeria.
The research is adopting case study approach. It is also premised on the cultural influences on settlements development. This implies that communities that have homogenous norms and values tend to accept programmes/initiatives adopted by their neighbouring societies, whereas they reject programmes/initiatives that are imported from other places which they view as foreign. Hence the research team selects a prominent metropolis (city) in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country to serve as a case study so that the outcomes from the selected metropolises (Cities) can be easily adopted by the rest parts of the zones.
The expected outcomes, ultimately, will be a collection of slum upgrade programmes/initiatives that are sustainable and which can be replicated in relation to peculiarities of challenges to be found in each case study area.
This research work began with a reconnaissance study on Jos the Plateau State capital (North Central Nigeria) being first among the selected metropolises that the study intends to cover.
The main purpose of this preliminary study was to establish contacts with relevant authorities identify location of slum upgrade/urban renewal areas and have audience with a section of key stakeholders with a view to generating the appropriate instruments and tools for the study proper.