Okeke VU¹* and Ahaotu EO²

¹School of Environmental Design and Technology, Imo state Polytechnic, Umuagwo, Nigeria
²School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, Imo state Polytechnic, Umuagwo, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: Okeke VU, School of Environmental Design and Technology, Imo state Polytechnic, Umuagwo, Nigeria.

Received: May 10, 2021; Published: May 29, 2021

Abstract

  Urban planning profession plays an important role in shaping health conditions of city and city residents. The links between urban planning and public health are many and varied having positive influences on the population. This study uses Imo state of Nigeria as a study area in understanding the link between both professions. Structured questionnaires sample the opinions of forty field personnel from Ministries of Physical Planning and that of Health (twenty respondents each). The study used comparative table analysis in understanding the link between both professions. The analyses showed that there is no link between both professions in the state. Planners pursue physical and structural development of the state while public health practitioners are involved in regulating sanitary conditions, hospital needs and drug distribution in the state. Political interference and a need for more training of planners is the major problems for planners while public health workers decry the conditions in which they operate as their major problem. The study revealed that planners agreed that there is a connection between both professions in achieving a healthy population for the state as opposed to public health professionals who do not see any link. This study therefore proposed a re-orientation of public health professionals to see urban planners as partners in progress starting from the course contents of students in higher institutions. Also seminars and conferences should be collaboratively held to improve on the awareness of both professions. There is also the need for invitations to be extended when major development projects and programmes are being initiated by each profession to see where each can add value and improve upon such projects.

Keywords: Urban Planning; Public Health; Planners; Physical and Structural Development

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Citation

Citation: Okeke VU and Ahaotu EO. “Investigating the Relationship Between Urban Planning and Public Health Professions in Imo State, Nigeria”. Acta Scientific Biotechnology 2.3 (2021): 14-20.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Okeke VU and Ahaotu EO. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.