Perceptions of Modular Construction as a tool for incorporating Resilience in Post Disaster Housing Reconstruction in the Niger Delta Environment

Abstract

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is coastal in nature and its urban form is governed by natural environmental constraints that have a strong bearing on the available land for physical development and the cost of provision of housing. The study espouses the adoption of a modular off-site prefabricated system of construction to close the enormous gap between demand and supply for housing in this ecologically fragile environment. This prescriptive study is thus carried out against the background of the recurrent flood disasters experienced in most parts of the Niger delta in which several lives and properties have been lost. Typical locations in the Niger Delta such Bayelsa and Rivers States are completely under siege from the prolonged impact of the floods which has swept away homes and other structures previously on ground. There however appears to be a general resistance to the adoption of Modular construction due to general perceptions about the ability of “offsite” construction to be optimally functional in the region. The paper thus empirically analyses and addresses these concerns stemming from perceptions about the risks associated with the adoption of this system in the Niger Delta. It critically portrays the perceived sociocultural, legal, economic, environmental, political, and technological barriers to its adoption using the Malaysian experience as a case for drawing useful analogies and key learning points that can boost housing provision in the region. The study outcome reveals the severity ranking of likely risk factors that may be affecting the present level of acceptability and willingness to adopt off-site construction.

Keywords: Disaster Management; Housing; Off-site construction; Resilience; Risks