Town Planners Raise The Alarm Over Loss Of Abuja Green Spaces

Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), FCT Chapter, has called for urgent measures to halt the steady loss of green spaces in Abuja and restore strict compliance with the city’s original master plan.

The chairman of the NITP, FCT Chapter, Queen Phillips, made the call at the 2026 Town Planners’ Day, held with the theme, “From Garden City to Concrete Jungle: Planning Livable Communities.”

Phillips said the theme was inspired by growing concerns over the disappearance of green areas, increasing violations of planning standards and the disregard for the provisions of the Abuja Master Plan.

She further described the theme as timely, saying it provided an opportunity for stakeholders to examine the challenges confronting sustainable urban development in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and develop practical solutions to preserve its environmental assets.

“The theme is therefore both timely and compelling, providing an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on the challenges confronting the sustainable development of the FCT.

“It will also help to collectively examine practical solutions for preserving its environmental assets and ensuring the creation of livable communities,” she said.

Phillips said the FCT chapter had consistently demonstrated its commitment to addressing planning and environmental challenges confronting the capital.

According to her, the chapter had established committees at different times to investigate development pressures, environmental challenges and the apparent depletion of green spaces in the territory.

She disclosed that reports produced by the committees had been forwarded to the National Institute for consideration and appropriate action.

The chairman added that the chapter had also reported, and would continue to report, observed violations of town planning laws and regulations to the Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC).

She stressed that adherence to professional standards, ethical practice and regulatory requirements remained essential to achieving orderly, sustainable and livable communities in Abuja.

The chairman of the occasion, Zaliha’u Ahmed, said Abuja was originally designed as a garden city, where nature and urban development would coexist through effective land-use planning, environmental sustainability, functional infrastructure and a high quality of life.

Ahmed, however, expressed concern that green spaces and designated open areas were steadily disappearing, while public and institutional lands were being converted to private developments.

She raised particular concerns over the felling of mature trees, the redesign of areas around Jabi Lake Park, the conversion of a district hospital site to residential use and indiscriminate commercial activities on walkways and buffer zones.

According to her, such developments posed a serious threat to the integrity of the Abuja Master Plan and were gradually eroding the identity of the Federal Capital as a deliberately planned city.

Ahmed urged professional bodies to scrutinise major departures from approved plans and make evidence-based positions public.

She also called for the protection of professionals who resist improper directives and appropriate disciplinary measures against those who knowingly facilitate serious planning violations.

The guest speaker, Prof. Laraba Rikko of the University of Jos, described Abuja’s transition from a garden city to what is increasingly perceived as a concrete jungle as an “experiential crisis” in urban planning.

Rikko said she was particularly concerned by comments from members of the public questioning whether town planners still existed in Abuja, noting that such perceptions were partly driven by the inability of the public to sufficiently see the impact of planning activities in the city.

She urged town planners to demonstrate greater integrity, diligence and commitment to their professional responsibilities.

According to her, the theme captured the growing tension between visionary planning and uncontrolled urban expansion, institutional intentions and implementation realities, as well as sustainable development and political, economic and demographic pressures.

Rikko said Abuja was deliberately conceived as a planned capital to avoid the urban challenges associated with organically developed cities and to represent Nigeria’s unity, aspirations and vision of a modern state.

She explained that the Abuja Master Plan incorporated green belts, open spaces, parks and protected natural landscapes not merely for aesthetic purposes but as critical ecological infrastructure.

The green areas, she said, were designed to regulate the environment, reduce urban heat, absorb rainfall and protect communities from climate-related risks.

She lamented that many of these features had been fragmented, degraded, allocated or converted to other uses.

Rikko identified unapproved building plans, inappropriate developments, weak enforcement, political interference, corruption and lack of professional integrity as some of the factors contributing to the erosion of Abuja’s original planning vision.

She challenged town planners and other built-environment professionals to take responsibility for their actions, stressing that every signature, approval and professional recommendation had the potential either to protect or undermine the integrity of the Federal Capital.

She said preserving Abuja’s identity as a planned and livable city required professionals and authorities to move beyond rhetoric and enforce planning regulations consistently.