An Assessment of Residential Quality of Life in Port Harcourt Municipality

This study has assessed urban residential quality of life in eight neighbourhoods of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria -- two from the oldest part of the city, which dates back to colonial times; two from other planned parts of the city; two from amongst the city’s indigenous enclaves now being absorbed into the urban fabric; and two drawn from the informal (waterfront) settlements that line the creeks of the city. The study set out to ascertain residents’ perception of neighbourhood attributes, residential quality of life as whole and the variables considered by residents to be the most important to enhance residential quality of life. Neighbourhood attributes were studied in situ without experimental manipulation and at one period in time, i.e. the study adopted a passive-observational research design. The study utilized both secondary and primary data sources. Primary data was collected using face-to-face administration of a largely pre-coded household questionnaire, to a probability sample of 726 respondents, drawn from the 8 neighbourhoods. Data analysis was based on responses from 725 questionnaires retrieved and the univariate analytical method was adopted. The study found, that residential quality of life in Port Harcourt Municipality was low with garbage on the streets and neighbourhoods. There was no street lighting in virtually all the neighbourhoods, periodic flooding occurring in all the neighbourhoods. The study further revealed that 27.2% of the residents across the neighbourhoods were unhappy with their residential quality of life and 60.7% of the residents perceived their neighbourhoods to be of medium quality. A key conclusion of the study was that the improvement of neighbourhood residential conditions as perceived by the residents was important in raising residential quality of life, and recommendations included that in the provision of public infrastructure and services , the perceptions and preferences of the beneficiaries/target population must be taken into account to achieve user satisfaction.