An Assessment Of The Effectiveness And Sustainability Of Urban Water Provision Practices In Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

: A Case For Collaborative Planning

Abstract

Urban water provision in Nigeria faces persistent and complex challenges, particularly in rapidly expanding cities such as Owerri in Imo State. These challenges include deteriorating infrastructure, fragmented governance, and an increasing reliance on informal water sources, all of which continue to constrain access to safe and sustainable water. Although urban water challenges in Nigerian cities have been widely studied, scholarly attention to the role of urban planning and institutional coordination in shaping water provision outcomes in Owerri remains limited. This study, therefore, examines the factors that constrain effective and sustainable urban water provision in Owerri Urban and explores how a collaborative planning approach can enhance water governance and service delivery.
Informed by Institutional Theory and Collaborative Planning Theory, the study adopts a qualitative case study design, employing semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and secondary data analysis. It evaluates the governance framework of urban water provision in Owerri, identifies key institutional drivers and barriers influencing supply, and assesses the alignment of existing practices with the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 6. A critical review of relevant legal and policy instruments, including the Imo State Water Law 2019 and the Imo State WASH Policy 2019, is also undertaken.
The findings reveal that urban water provision in Owerri is marked by weak institutional coordination, policy fragmentation, limited stakeholder integration, and the social normalisation of informal water provision. These conditions have undermined effective service delivery and hindered progress towards sustainability.
The originality of this research lies in its integration of urban planning and institutional analysis to reconceptualise urban water provision as a governance and planning challenge rather than a purely infrastructural problem. The study contributes to knowledge by developing a collaborative institutional planning framework that embeds water provision within statutory planning and multi-stakeholder governance processes. Locally, it provides evidence-based guidance to improve urban water sustainability in Owerri, while internationally, it offers transferable insights for cities in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa facing similar governance challenges.

Date of Award	2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Dundee
Supervisor	Dumiso Moyo (Supervisor) & Sandra Costa Santos (Supervisor)