Developing a Model for the Measurement of Residential Environmental Quality of Enugu, Nigeria

Abstract

Environmental degradation has bedeviled most urban areas in Nigeria. Inspite of the efforts being made by both state and federal governments to effectively tackle the problem, there has been no remarkable solution as it is not often very easy to measure the environmental quality of many urban areas in the country. This paper, therefore, develops a model for the measurement of environmental quality in Enugu metropolis. Multiple regression model was used to establish a relationship between residential housing investments and environmental quality of Enugu metropolis. Housing investments (public and private investments) were used as ‘X1’ and ‘X2’ (independent) variables while the environmental quality of the area was the ‘Y’ (dependent) variable. In the result, the coefficient of determination showed that adjusted r² = 915 indicating that 91.5% variation in the environmental quality can be predicted from public and private housing investments. Thus, the regression equation; Y = a + b1 pub. Invt. + b2 priv. invt. + E. Hence, Environmental quality = 24.25 - 1.35 pub. invt.-2.25 priv. invt. + 7.02. Considering the current trend in upholding sustainability in the environment, this model could be used to measure the environmental quality of Enugu Metropolis.

Key words; Model, Environmental, Quality, Enugu, Nigeria.