Town planner urges eastern governors to enforce planning laws, curb unregulated development

Ayi E. Akiba, Chairman of the Eastern Planners Forum, has called on Eastern region governors to strengthen town planning laws and enforce existing regulations to prevent haphazard property development. Speaking on World Town Planning Day, Akiba warned that unregulated development could exacerbate housing, environmental and infrastructure issues across the region.

He emphasized that sustainable communities require deliberate planning, collective commitment, and effective implementation of development policies. Major challenges facing the region include housing shortages, informal settlements, aging infrastructure, inadequate access to basic services, climate vulnerability, and increasing social inequality.

The EPF chairman urged state governments to prioritize affordable and decent housing, strengthen measures against windstorms, landslides, gully erosion, and flooding, and assess housing development based on affordability, accessibility, security of tenure, proximity to employment, and availability of infrastructure. While acknowledging ongoing infrastructure projects, Akiba stressed their success depends on proper integration with sound planning and effective urban governance.

He also advocated for the early involvement of qualified town planners, the adoption of modern technologies like GIS, AI, remote sensing, and digital mapping, as well as the digitization of town planning offices and recruitment of young graduate planners.