Housing Development in Riverine Areas of Nigeria : The Habitability Concept

The essence of the study is to evolve ways for qualitative housing development and maintenance process that will guarantee habitable housing environment for the rural dwellers taking into consideration its riverine features. Furthermore, this study was carried out to enlighten government, non government organization and professionals on the difficulty of housing development and sustainability in the study area. On this premise, this work evaluated the conditions of housing components, infrastructural facilities, its maintenance, type of building and the satisfaction of the rural dwellers with their environment. The results show that most of the houses were not habitable and maintenance of the houses was poor. This is largely due to the riverine nature, ecological barriers, low quality of materials used, lack of infrastructural and social amenities, sanitary facilities and lack of financial resources. Therefore, strategy for improving the standard of housing and its environs was recommended; that government should support the construction sector or organization with the view of introducing appropriate flood resistant products within the income generating schemes of the rural dweller