Page:Niger Delta Ecosystems- the ERA Handbook, 1998.djvu/241

Port Harcourt 21 THE HUMAN ECOSYSTEMS: PORT HARCOURT
 * Introduction
 * History
 * Modern Development
 * The Modern City – Trends and Future Development
 * Ecological Setting
 * The Survey Locations
 * The Residents
 * Cultural and Social Issues
 * Social infrastructure and the Urban Environment
 * Social infrastructure and the Urban Environment - Housing
 * The Urban Environment
 * The Psychological Issues
 * Participation in Urban Management
 * The Impact of Port Harcourt on its Region
 * Conclusions
 * Appendix – Statements by Residents

21.1 INTRODUCTION

The modern city is the culmination of mankind's developmental processes and it is, for most of us, the environment in which we have to live.

The city is the future. When we look at Port Harcourt we see not only the lives of people now but also we see what life will be like for mankind in the 21ˢᵗ century. And, it is not an encouraging picture. Life for the great majority of people in Port Harcourt, as in most of the world's cities, is a grinding, daily struggle for survival in an environment that offers no comfort and little hope. Port Harcourt is devoid of sanitation, education or physical beauty. It is a reproach to all the technological advances of the twentieth century and must call into question the validity of what we glibly call development.

If modern cities are the result of humanity's struggle to improve its conditions over the past few hundred years, then that struggle should be judged to have failed dismally.

Yet, despite this gloomy picture, the human spirit, in its potential for optimism, joy and love, is as evident in Port Harcourt as it is in any place where people live together. The belief that tomorrow can be better is as evident in Port Harcourt as it is in any place where men and women seek to be good in bad times.

ERA's findings about Port Harcourt are based on a participatory survey of 1993/94. A summary of the findings make up the bulk of this chapter. 239