Titus Nnadozie Onuoha

Despite abundant water resources in Owerri (Imo State, Nigeria), the city's Water Scheme is not working effectively and fails to provide an adequate and sustainable water supply. This thesis aims to assess the effectiveness and sustainability of Owerri's urban water provision to explore urban planning's potential for collaborative institutional stakeholder engagement. 

Water is a significant component in building the infrastructure base of a nation and a necessity in its overall development (Vörösmarty et al., 2018). However, 2.2 billion people lack access to adequate water supplies globally (Raimi et al., 2019).  

Notably, urban water provision has been studied in most urban areas in Nigeria. However, despite previous efforts by various water sector stakeholders and the contributions of previous researchers, the City of Owerri has limited water for its growing urban population. City development continues without adequate institutionally provided water services, (Nwankwoala, 2014; Ngene and Obianigwe, 2018). 

The nature of government in Nigeria is characterised by multi-layered hierarchical institutional authorities with responsibility for water provision for Owerri. But without positive outcomes. The statutory authorities continue to plan for urban settlements devoid of water provision, contrary to Sustainable Development Goals on the need for water. Hence, the research question for this study is, 'How can urban planning practice influence collaborative institutional stakeholder engagement for water provision toward effective and sustainable development in Owerri?'. Five objectives are set aside to respond to the research questions, and the study is based on a case study research using a qualitative research approach. 

Names of Supervisors: 

• Dr. Dumiso Moyo 
• Dr. Sandra Costa Santos