Rapid Urbanization and the Nigerian Landscape: the Gains, the Manaces and Strategies for Future Success

The environment is the fiber and bedrock upon which Urbanization thrives. In modifying the environment to accommodate urbanization, care must be taken to avoid any form of exploitation, degradation, abuse, and misuse. But this has not been the case in Nigeria, urbanization has occurred rapidly through unsustainable activities and lifestyles that deplete the environment, and the lives of the very inhabitants it should so dutifully protect. This paper analyzes how Nigeria's rapid urban growth is affecting landscape design and sustainability, and strategies for combating the negative effects of urbanization on the landscape are proposed.