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Abstract

This research is concerned with the effect of land use on the health and safety of the environment. the relationship between the planning of settlements and health. It gives a brief introduction to the issues before summarising the evidence in relation to a range of topics, concluding with some more speculative thoughts on likely future findings. Modern planning was invented in response to inhumane living conditions in 19th century cities. But in the last century the connection was lost. Only now, with concerns over climate change and obesity, is there beginning to be the realization that the physical environment is an important determinant of health.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

The focus of this paper is on land use planning for healthy human settlements. It is widely recognized that the spatial planning of human urban activity is affecting quality of life, health and well-being. First to give some definitions: settlements in this context include cities, towns and villages. The tentacles of large settlements spread out far beyond urban areas, into hinterlands and networks, linking places together through commuter residence and work, retail, educational and leisure activities. So there is no clear functional distinction between urban and rural settlements within a town or city region. Land use planning is conventionally called ‘town and country planning’ in Britain, following the 1947 Act, but since 2004 is officially termed ‘spatial planning’, implying a more integrated, inter-agency process. In literature the term ‘built environment’ is often used to mean the human-made environment that may be subject to planning. It does not refer only to buildings and hard infrastructure but to all the physical elements that go to make up settlements, including greenspace. Health is defined broadly, in line with the World Health Organization (WHO), as ‘not only the absence of disease but a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being, without distinction of race, religion, political belief or economic or social condition’ (WHO, 1946). Health in this sense is linked to every aspect of life – the social, the economic and the environmental – and can be seen as consonant with the anthropogenic version of sustainable development evident in the UN Brundtland definition. Just as equity (intra-generational as well as inter-generational) is a key aspect of sustainable development, so concern for health inequalities is central to public health policy.

Health and land use planning are historically linked. Modern planning originated in the nineteenth century expressly in order to combat unhealthy conditions—the unsanitary, over-crowded and inhumane conditions of the burgeoning industrial cities. It was recognised then, and still is, that there is an umbilical link between environmental conditions and human health. This link has been articulated in the modern era as permeating the human condition. The environment is seen as one of the key determinants of health, alongside inherited characteristics, lifestyles, and social and economic variables (Lalonde, 1974; Whitehead and Dahlgren, 1991). It is not only a matter of the direct physical impacts on health – for example of foul air or contaminated water – but also of indirect social and behavioural effects, on the exercise we take, the people we meet, and the degree of inequality in access to housing, employment opportunities, health services and other facilities. Land use planning and concern for the built environment originated from a public health focus. The Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century caused a rapid growth of coal, steel, and manufacturing industries. In turn, this brought workers and their families from the countryside to the cities in droves. These exploding cities lacked sanitary infrastructures to cope with the swelling masses. Improvised and often crowded housing typically lay adjacent to factories that discharged smoke and other pollutants. Urban residents, “lived in tiny unventilated apartments, often with whole families—and perhaps a few boarders—occupying the same room…the most miserable and degraded lived in unfinished cellars, their walls a mat of slime, sewage, and moisture after every rain.

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Land as one of the factors of production is relatively scarce in supply, the effect of land use activities on the health and safety of the environment has become very cumbersome and a course of worry to the emerging cities. This is because land are used for diverse purposes; ranging from agriculture, industrial, residential, commercial and mining. Some of these activities on land causes pollution and hazardous to public health. It is on this back drop that the researcher intends to investigate the effect of land used activities on the health and safety of the environments.

• OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to ascertain the effect of land use activities on the health and safety of the environment. However, for the successful completion of the study, the researcher therefore set out the following sub-objectives:

1. To ascertain the relationship between land use and public safety
2. To ascertain the relationship between land use and public health

• To ascertain the impact of land activities on the environment

1. To evaluate ways of promoting effective land used and environmental safety.
   • RESAERCH HYPOTHESES

For the successful completion of the study, the following hypotheses were formulated:

H₀: There is no significant relationship between land use and public safety

H₁: There is a significant relationship between land use and public safety.

H₀²: there is no significant relationship between land use activities and public health

H₂: there is a significant relationship between land use activities and public health.

• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

At the completion of this study the findings will be of great benefit to the urban and regional planners to ensure effective planning of the society

The findings will also be of great benefit to the public health workers to ensure ways of protecting the environment from hazards emanating from the use of land.

The study will also be of great importance to environmentalist in other to formulate and implement environmental laws.

Finally the study will be of great benefit to researchers as it will add to the pool of knowledge.