Abstract

Buea municipality is one of the seven Subdivisions in the Fako Division of the South West Region of Cameroon that has been witnessing urbanization growth since the colonial era and this growth has become too visible. The main objective of this study was to examine the urbanization growth and its implications on humans and the Environment in Buea Municipality.

Two main sources of data (primary and secondary) were used to arrive at the stated objectives and stratified and random sampling techniques were used in the administration of questionnaires primary sources of data collection included- the-sport observation, interviews, and the use of the camera. Secondary sources of data collected included literature from published and unpublished sources such as textbooks, articles, journals, reports of research organizations, and theses.

This information was obtained from the university library, Government offices, State institutions and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) as well as from the World Wide Web.

Findings revealed that migration of youth into the Buea Municipality for education purposes and the natural increase has caused an increase in the proportion of people in the Buea Municipality and this has resulted in some human and environmental problems such as pollution, high house rents, illegal waste disposal, high prices of goods and services, insecurity in the Buea Municipality.

The study proposed some recommendations like decentralization of education, enhanced or expand infrastructure, provide basic necessities such as water, electricity, health care and waste management to help solve present and future problems of Urbanization on human and the environment.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the study

Urbanization is an increase in the proportion of people living in an urban area be it a town or a city. It is predominantly the process by which towns and cities are formed and become larger as more people begin living and working in central areas within the cities and towns. Some Urbanization should be distinguished from urban growth even though the two concepts are sometimes used interchangeably.

Whereas urbanization refers to the proportion of the total national population living in an area classified as an urban area, urban growth is strictly the absolute number of people living in those areas (UNO 2008).

The United Nations had projected that half of the world’s population will live in urban areas at the end of 2008. It is predicted that by 2050 about 64% of the developing world and 86% of the developed world will be urbanized that is equivalent to approximately 3 billion urbanites, much of which will occur in Africa and Asia.

Notably, the UNO 2008 has also recently projected that nearly all global population growth from 2017 to 2030 will be cities with about 1.1 billion new urbanites over the next 10 years. The phenomenon has been closely rating at which the urban proportion of the population is increasing.

Urbanization creates enormous social, economic, and environmental changes which provide an opportunity for sustainability with the potential to use resources more efficiently, create more sustainable land use, and protect the biodiversity of natural ecosystems. Some causes of urbanization include being linked to modernization, industrialization, and the sociological process of rationalization. Urbanization can be seen as a specific condition at a set time.

Therefore, urbanization can be quantified in terms of the level of urban development relative to the overall population or at the expansion of government services, growth of the private sector, infrastructural facilities in the urban areas; migration of people (rural exodus), and educational facilities in the urban areas. The urbanization consists of both positive and negative impacts.

1.2. Statement of the problem

Buea the capital of the southwest region and one of the most influential urban towns in Cameroon is characterized by rapid migration of people into the town and also the proportion of people in the town is increasing at a very rapid rate and this has resulted in some negative consequences like high crime waves, traffic congestion, increase in the price of goods and services, spread of disease, overutilization of resources, pollution, increase in domestic waste disposal on streets, climate change (global warming), overpopulation and congestion on social amenities today is a major problem.

The ongoing social-economic change within the city further supports the positive and negative effects it may have within the city. This is vital as most works have looked at urbanization and its impacts on the environment and on humans.

The government and the Buea municipal council are providing little or no mitigation measures to address or combat the negative effects of an increase in urbanization. Based on the aforementioned issues this study seeks to provide answers to the following research questions.

1.3. Research questions

1.3.1. Main research question

The main research question of this study is: what are the impacts of urbanization on humans and the environment in the Buea municipality?

1.3.2. Specific research questions

The specific research questions for this study include the following.

1. How is the nature and Trend of urbanization in the Buea municipality?
2. What are the positive impacts of urbanization within the Buea municipality?
3. Are there negative effects of urbanization within the Buea municipality?
4. How far are the coping mechanism in which the population has adapted to the changing conditions and implications of Urbanization in the Buea municipality?