The Role of the Estate Surveyor and Valuer in Managing the 21st Century City In Nigeria
A PAPER PRESENTED AT THE 46TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE NIGERIAN INSTITUTION OF ESTATE SURVEYORS AND VALUERS (UNITY 2016) HELD AT THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY (FCT) ABUJA ON APRIL 12 TO 16, 2016.
BY
ESV VEN. BARR. DR. IYKE OZIGBO, FNIVS
AND
ESV DR. MRS. CHINELO OZIGBO
BOTH OF DEPARTMENT OF ESTATE MANAGEMENT,UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA
1.0 THE ABSTRACT
Cities are robust investments. They constitute the engine room and seat of life of economies. They are couriers of prosperity and opportunity centres, being the anchor of human ambitions, aspirations, dreams, yearnings and where ideas eventually turn into realities.
Incidentally, most Nigerian cities are under attack from diverse fronts - socially, economically, developmentally, even politically. Consequently, they have become more of places of deprivation, inequality and exclusion. In many cities of the developing world, unequal access to opportunities and resources has pushed many into deprivation, wantonness, redundancy, disillusionment, disenchantment and in extreme cases, frustration and mental derangement. Never in history has humankind experienced the nature and level of challenges it faced globally in the past decade which ranged from financial to economic, environmental, social, political, etc. There were soaring unemployment, food shortages, escalating prices, ravaging inflation, monetary devaluation, political instability, security concern, etc. thereby threatening wholesomely, the core functionality of cities. This paper strongly advocates the institutionalization and re-invigoration of newness in our cities- cities of inclusion and hope with a radical re-ordering of values and judgement with the paramount consideration as sustained functionality and overall target as the welfare of the people. The entire thing hinges on managerial and innovative roles and obligations, thus pitching the Estate Surveyor and Valuer on the driving seat. It has found that the Estate Surveyor and Valuer is the most qualified professional to restore the seemingly lost hope on the re-invigoration of our cities since management is at the centre of his core competency areas.
KEY WORDS – Role, Managing, City.
2.0 SALIENT CLUES ON THE 21ST CENTURY CITY
The 21st century city refers to the city of today. It is anchored on modernity, newness, currency and forward-looking practices, innovations, observances, measures and strategies. It is a city that is designed with a mindset of doing away with the practices of the old that resulted in the dysfunctionality of our cities of today (Badcock, 2002).
It should be noted that a city is adjudged dysfunctional if it no longer satisfy the fundamental tripod requirements of functionality, conviviality and inclusivity. It is difficult for Nigerian cities to sustain workability given the rate of human influx into them at the expense of countryside locations, without a corresponding attention paid to shoring-up or at least sustaining their carrying capacities.
Marrick et al (2009) found that whereas the population of the developed world grew by 42%, that of the developing world grew by 146% between 1950 and 2005. The cities of old were compact, self sustaining and harboured a handful of administrative and religious elites, supported by an overwhelming rural folks and agricultural surpluses. Cities of today on the other hand are mainly heterogeneous, sprawling and spilling on hitherto rural and peri-urban agricultural lands. A particular critical issue here is the fact that this growth is accompanied by a rapid growth in the number of urban inhabitants who live on marginal existence (Akinbamijo, 2007).
The 21st century city is a smart city. A smart city is a city of tomorrow inhabited today. It is an entailing, intelligent and protective city in which activities are proactively driven. Stray reactivity may occur but then, it is attended to virtually perfectly because of the highly quick response time effectively in place. Inactivity is unmentionable; reactive tendencies are largely de-emphasized while proactiveness is embraced to all intents and purposes.
Smarter cities drive sustainable economic growth and prosperity for their citizens. Their leaders have the tools to analyze data for better decisions, anticipate problems to resolve them adequately and coordinate resources to operate efficiently. Smarter cities use the system of systems to their advantage while supporting the needs of each citizen through social programmes, healthcare and education.
Smarter cities are innovative cities driven on the tripod of Infrastructure, Operations and People. It is an interconnected system of systems; a dynamic work in progress with progress as its watchword (FMLH&UD, 2012).
The United Nations categorize cities based on human population:
> Mega cities - 10 million persons and above
> Large cities - 5 to 10 million inhabitants
> Medium cities - 1 to 5 million population
> Small cities - 500,000 to 1 million people
Adapted from The UN World Urbanization Prospects, 2012.
3.0 AN OVERVIEW OF THE STATE OF NIGERIAN CITIES
In many parts of the world, particularly in the west, cities are growing by leaps and bounds. As these cities grow, it engenders a corresponding need for efficient provision of services, ranging from housing and electricity, to clean water; mobility, safety, etc. This instantly calls for collaboration for the desired results.
The Global Juniper Research Team (2015) declared the city of Barcelona the “world’s smartest city.†The said city has a population of a little over 1.6 million persons. This rating was informed mainly by the extent to which the city has protected the overall livelihood of its inhabitants. In the area of transportation alone; today, there are over 500 hybrid taxis on the streets of Barcelona; 300 public electric vehicles and about 400 private electric cars. The city has most effectively managed available resources to the best interest of the people, particularly leveraging in the areas of intelligence, energy/water supplies, lighting and mobility systems which has continued to improve livelihood and equally ensure environmental protection. Moreover, the city has upheld open-government measures which improves the transparency and efficiency of the city’s administrative agencies. Other notable cities that have towed the path of the intelligent city include Zurich, Vienna, Vancouver, Geneva, Hong Kong, Washington, London, New York, Sydney, Singapore, Amsterdam, Helsinki, etc.
Major cities across the world are reputed for one thing or the other as shown below:
1. Singapore has the best infrastructure in the world
2. Amsterdam – The most bike-friendly city in the world with 38% of all trips in the city made by bicycle
3. Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India having a technology sector that yields $17billion revenue per year
4. London – The city with the most economic opportunity in the world
5. Helsinki, Finland – Having the most effective and busiest transit hub
6. Hong Kong – Having the most developed housing sector with 1,268 sky scrapers; more than twice that of any other city in the world.
7. San Jose, Carlifornia – The most forward-thinking city on the planet, with 5,066 patents per million residents.
8. Vienna, Austria - The city with the highest quality of life in the world. Excellent public transit, renowned museums, steady international congresses, finest urban planning. Its substandard housing amounts to only 9% of the city’s housing stock
9. Copenhagen, Denmark – The city with the most efficient healthcare on earth, having both maternity and paternity leave, etc.
10. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil- Fastest emerging smart city
11. Medellin, Columbia – World’s most violent city, though presently undergoing serious urban revival
12. Cape town, South Africa – The city with the largest concentration of fossil fuel and solar water heaters
13. Vancouver, Canada – The greenest city in the world- Very high regard for treebelts, vegetation and soft landscapping. 41% of the city population have developed the culture of walking to their destination most of the time. This encourages physical fitness and bodily wellness
14. Santiago, Chile – The least corrupt and most entrepreneur- friendly city in the world
15. Dubai, UAE – The city having the tallest buildings in the world. An example is the 160-storey Burj Khalifa, the tallest building on earth.
16. Tokyo, Japan- The city with the most stable trading opportunities
17. Munich, Germany – Almost hitting the target of becoming the city with the most sustainable energy system in the world
18. Seoul, South Korea – The city with the best organized intra commuting arrangement with over 25,000 GPS-fitted cabs servicing the city.
19. Although yet to be globally acknowledged and ranked; Calabar, Nigeria, has been listed amongst the world’s cleanest cities
20. Abuja, Nigeria – Fastest growing city in the world at the annual rate of approximately 140% (HNZC, 2011).
Unfortunately, most Nigerian cities are only classified as growing cities as they have not lived upto the billing of the globally acknowledged city expressions and qualifiers like sustainable cities, intelligent cities, ideal cities, smarter cities, innovative cities, livable cities, green cities, healthy cities, clean cities, etc. This state of our cities is largely informed by our attitudinal tendencies ranging from management, to adherence, down to innovation and patriotism.
Typical scenes at some Nigerian cities:
4.0 A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO THE ANTI-CITY PHENOMENON
The phenomenon of the anti-city refers to the whole lot of untoward factors that lead to the run-down and degradation of our cities. It is pertinent to note that these factors are 100% man-made. This means that they shall all vanish the same moment we all decide they should vanish and our cities will by implication experience renaissance, revamping, resuscitation, emancipation, turnaround, rehabilitation, improvement, advancement, progression, growth, enhancement, transformation, reformation, revitalization and face-lifting.
Notable among the factors include: planlessness, congestion, bad/poor road network, poor housing, destitution, insecurity, pollution, environmental degradation, poor administration/ management, poor orientation, lack of rule of law, poor development control, lack of awareness, value system, uncivilized behaviour, selfishness, sheer disobedience, ill will, penchant for disorder, decay, slumming, squatter settlement, deprivation, unemployment/ poverty, abandoned/makeshift buildings/structures, disregarding traffic regulations, corruption, city unfriendly behaviour, illicit conduct, reckless driving, violence, unpatriotism, illiteracy, ignorance and their likes. These factors constitute the indices upon which cities are rated for global ranking and indexing (Morley, et al, 1989). This explains why it is quite difficult for our cities to be favourably or positively rated and ranked as virtually all the anti-city factors are ever present in our cities.
Again, this calls for a surgical attention if we nurse any hope of getting our cities listed in the global comity of cities.
The idea is that the factors as listed and a lot more, should be made to assume their positive slides such as aesthetics; safety/security; adequate accommodation, shelter/housing; greenbelt/recreational opportunities, employment opportunities, discipline, infrastructure/ utilities, environmental safetiness, good road network, efficient traffic system, man-hour effectiveness, civic orientation, value system/prioritization, proper waste management, sound jurisprudence, adequate education, grassroot enlightenment/awareness, electricity/power, transportation/energy, effective communication, surveillance/checks and balances, amongst others.
5.0 THE ROLE OF THE ESTATE SURVEYOR AND VALUER IN CITY MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Over the years, management of cities has been a public sector (government) obligation with little or no input from both the private sector and the professionals.
The Estate Surveyor and Valuer is a management consultant given his bias for value, econometrics; micro and macro.
The Estate Surveyor and Valuer should be brought in to deploy his great wealth of experience and wisdom in salvaging our cities which at the moment, are at the receiving ends. He should appreciate the city as property, an asset, a facility, an investment and deploy the full dose of his management endowment in getting them back on track.
Government at the various levels should drive this all-important process guided by global best practices. It has worked beautifully at some countries like Bulgaria where requisite professionals have been engaged to manage the cities (Thomas and Fordham, 2006). Usually, it is initiated with an enabling legislation with clear and specified stipulations on the scope and terms of the engagement such professionals.
The difference will definitely be witnessed in our cities as soon as the Estate Surveyor and Valuer comes on board to manage them in collaboration with other requisite personnel.
6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
This paper recommends as follows:
1. The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers should champion the cause of creating awareness on their core competency areas. This will set the tone for the recovery of their lost practice areas. A good starting point in this recovery drive is laying a strong claim to this issue of city management.
2. The Estate Surveyor and Valuer should appreciate the management of cities the same way he manages other sophisticated assets, properties and facilities. He should only have at the back of his mind the idea that founders and inhabitants of these cities require value addition and overall realization of set goals and targets.
3. The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers should organize periodic training and re-training programmes as a means of providing sound preparatory and platform for launching out to this fresh challenge.
4. All hands should be on deck towards ensuring that this noble idea successfully materializes. This requires our members developing a positive spirit and disposition towards accomplishing this target rather than look at it as an insurmountable task.
No one ever wins a prize without buying a ticket.
7.0 CONCLUSION
It has remained a puzzle why the simplicity of the past has continued to outclass the sophistication of the present in terms of city planning and management.
Virtually everything worked in our abodes then without a single legislation as the early men operated strict rules regarding where they lived, where they recreated, where they held gathering, where they worshipped, where they schooled, etc. There was soft laws, not written on any paper but right in their hearts and minds (Carmona, et al, 2010). Indeed, they operated conscientiously to the well-being of all and sundry.
Today, despite the existence of several Laws and Bye-Laws, Edicts, Regulations, Codes, Guidelines and so many Dos and Don’ts, our cities remain shadows of themselves, not meeting up with the requirements of smarter, innovative or sustainable cities. Something must be wrong somewhere.
The Estate Surveyor and Valuer is adequately equipped and strategically positioned to finally resolve this quagmire. The earlier he is engaged to turnaround the fortunes of our cities, the better for all of us and our overall economy.
Indeed the professionalization of the management of our cities should be accepted as a hard fact. It is a departure from the ordinary to a paradigm and should be treated as such for a healthy growth of our cities and the advancement of urban sustainability.
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