Physical Resilience and Adaptation Strategies of the Built Environment to Climate Change in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

The research aims to assess how physical resilience and adaptation strategies of the built environment to climate change in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria, can be achieved. Some of the objectives include analyzing the land use change from 1990 to 2020 using geospatial techniques in Port Harcourt metropolis and examining how the built environment has affected climate change in the city. The Mixed Method Research Approach (MMRA) was used in this study, and it involves the Longitudinal Research Design (LRD), thus integrating both qualitative and quantitative research methods to comprehensively analyze complex research problems, enabling data triangulation and enhancing the robustness of findings. The LRD involves repeated observation or measurement of the same subjects over time, allowing researchers to detect changes and developments in the subject matter. The study was carried out amongst residents of twenty-five (25) communities in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area and the eighty-eight (88) communities in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area. Questionnaires were administered to 399 members of the community, and 381 were retrieved. In addition, an oral interview was conducted with two officials (key informants), each from five relevant Rivers State Government agencies, giving a total of ten (10) professionals. The results of the evaluation of the change matrix showed an increase in the following areas: Built up area 360%, Bare land 128%, Water bodies 123.9% and Green forest 127%, while a decrease in the following areas: Farmland 93%, Open spaces 33.3% and Wetland and swamps 20.5%. It was generally observed that temperature gradually increased from 31.48 to 32.3℃, and rainfall remained at an average of 187.16mm. This shows that the variations in annual rainfall among the years are minimal compared to observed temperature, thus confirming that the effect of climate change is mainly affecting temperature. It was, therefore, recommended that Rivers State Government should follow the Master Plan by reinstating the original open spaces and gardens and bring the state back to its original name of Garden City.