ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to set the urban environmental problems. It identifies and discusses the broader context of the persistent political and economic development dilemmas that the country continues to endure. The regime's state-mandated development strategy and anti-private sector policies strangled growth and development in the urban sectors of the economy. The commercial, industrial, and urban housing sectors suffered immensely from bureaucratic control and management and restrictive state measures against private investments. The focus on urban environmental problems by no means suggests that rural areas suffer from fewer environmental problems, nor does it suggest that rural areas have access to adequate healthcare and essential social and economic infrastructure. The country cannot make improvements in the urban physical and human environments without good governance and improvements in the social and economic well-being of the majority of people in the country. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
