MITIGATING URBAN FLOOD RISKS

Urban flooding has become more than a temporary inconvenience into a widespread and catastrophic menace in Nigerian cities, and spans a major barrier to sustainable development.

MITIGATING URBAN FLOOD RISKS: LESSONS FROM IBADAN FOR A
DISASTER-RESILIENT CITY
AYORINDE Adedayo* & BOLUKALE Oluwatoyin, PhD

Department of Urban & Regional Planning,
Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Corresponding author: dayolayorinde@yahoo.com

Abstract

Worldwide, flooding has nowadays become a common environmental hazard. This has increased as a result of climate change, and the impact has been felt more by the poor in developing nations of the world. Urban flooding is a serious problem in most cities in Nigeria and Ibadan, particularly, has had numerous flood disasters which have claimed lives and income, damaged property and caused diseases. In keeping with the sub-theme Risk Reduction and Disaster-Resilient Cities, this study looks at the flood control approaches towards Ibadan and how they can be adopted to create a prototype of a disaster resilient city. It also conducts an in-depth discussion of the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project, one of the significant projects that the Oyo State Government, with the help of the World Bank, has implemented to create a long-term flood-resilience of the city, after the catastrophic Ibadan flood Disaster of 2011. IUFMP uses integration of modern technology, community participation and sustainable practices to use structural and non-structural approach to flood management. The structural facet encompasses building and maintenance of drainage networks, culverts, bridges and rivers. At the same time, the non-structural part that includes flood risk assessment, establishment of early warning technologies, the necessity to involve the community in the process, and enhance urban master planning were conducted. Some lessons learned in Ibadan include: complete assessment of risks, consistency in infrastructure investments, enforcement of policies and inclusive governance in order to succeed in flood resilience initiatives. These results show that IUFMP has made great progress in improving the flood resilience of Ibadan giving much valuable lessons to inform planners and policymakers in other cities prone to flooding.

Keywords: Urban Flood Risk, Rapid Urbanization, Disaster-Resilient, Flood Management, Risk Reduction