Sabina Chiaka Osuji (AUTHOR)
Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria
Corresponding author: chiakanne@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT: One of the ugliest phenomena in Nigerian Urban Centres is the prevalence of crime and slums. Slums are the home of the urban poor, people in search of a better life or without a better place to go. Half of the world has become urbanized, and the number of people living in cities is only projected to grow. The most rapid growth is expected in developing countries and will contribute to more slums. Slums are described as centres of violence and crime, and these informal communities are a veritable breeding ground for criminal activities, accompanied by an increased rate of crime, violence, and lawlessness. The phenomenon of crime knows no boundary and does not distinguish between developed and developing countries. Crime prevalence is the proportion of people or targets, for example, households, properties, or cars in an area, who are victimized and is used to identify the risk of being a victim. The number of potential victims commonly equates to an area’s population. Consequently, the paper investigates the present causes and effects of the urban slums and examines the crime prevalence in Nigerian urban slum areas. However, the study relied on secondary data. Data were obtained from literature in journals, textbooks, official records, private papers, and the internet. The study identifies poverty, bad governance, unemployment, lack of planning for the lower-income classes of society, improper use of land, poor infrastructure, and social exclusion; health hazards, prone to natural and man-made hazards; and inhabitants often being in danger of violence and crime such as burglary and housebreaking, drug abuse, armed robbery, and kidnapping. The study suggests the implementation of poverty eradication projects, effective planning, good governance, a slum upgrading programme, a monitoring system and data management, and increasing the presence of police.
Keywords: Causes; Crime Prevalence; Effects; Planning; Urban Slum