Urban Development Challenge in Nigeria: A Study of Compliance to Planning Standards in Asaba

At the beginning of the new millennium more than 60% of the world’s population lives in cities. By 2025 it will be over 5 billion people who live in urban context. The process of rapid urbanization and poor governance has gradually generated number of issues that affect the quality of life of residents. Among these; the increase in unemployment, changes in housing conditions in qualitative and quantitative, deterioration of infrastructure and social services, the decline of public spaces, growth of cities by diffusion and dispersion of settlements. These problems are particularly pronounced in the old, indigenous core areas of the cities, and in the outer spontaneous settlements that accommodate the low-income population. This paper examined urban regeneration as a tool for sustainable neighbourhood development. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 100 respondents. Data collected were analyzed using simple descriptive technique. Findings shows that the area is rated fair, so total demolition can’t be used. Urban regeneration and sustainable neighbourhood development, is perceived as an important approach to ameliorate the problems of physical and social deterioration of neighbourhoods.