Assessment of Risk Factors in the Construction of Residential Neighbourhood Layout in Ebonyi State Nigeria

In developing states of Nigeria such as Ebonyi, studies have shown that many residents in urban areas as well as rural areas live in inadequate housing and in neighbourhoods that lack the basic requirements of liveable environments. This is in accord with posit that the role neighbourhood attributes such as accessibility, attractiveness of the place, appropriateness as a place to live, availability of things to do, appropriateness as a place to raise children, cleanliness, noise level and traffic intensity is still worrisome in our neighbourhoods especially in Afikpo Ebonyi state, Nigeria. This paper assesses the extent to which risk factors are considered in the construction of residential neighbourhood. It further examined how Town planning laws and ordinances can limit physical development disaster especially in residential neighbourhood. This study was conducted in Edda, Afikpo South of Ebonyi state, Nigeria. Multi-stage and random sampling technique was used to administer 226 questionnaires. Data collected were analysed using simple descriptive statistics. Findings shows that about 70% of the respondents did not consider the consequence of residential location before building development. This paper also noted that the perception of respondents to importance of risk factor in construction of residential districts is low. As a result of the findings, this paper discussed the implications of the increasing negligence of risk factor in the construction of residential neighbourhoods. The paper also advocates for effective enforcement of development control agency as an important machinery to guide the construction of residential districts.