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ABSTRACT
This research x-rayed how residents of Benin City perceive environmental annoyances in their fast-urbanizing environment. It also aimed at ascertaining the quality of life and coping strategies of Benin City residents in the face of adverse environmental nuisances. A pre-survey was effected which sought to elicit, construct and validate an instrument for evaluating peoples’ perceptions of environmental annoyances in urban settings, based on aversive situations akin to the hustle and bustle of city life. The preliminary survey enabled the generation of an initial list of 100 descriptive situations reflecting actual city life, which was then tested in a second study with over 300 residents in an abbreviated version of 40 items. Employing Mean Analyses, Principal Components Analyses and T-Tests, the study revealed that, with carbon monoxide emissions as the most serious, 16 principal annoyances worried residents of Benin City the most including flooding, epileptic power supply, noise from loudspeakers in churches, the smells in public transport vehicles, and the dearth of motorcycles in the city. The study further revealed that the quality of life of Benin City residents has been seriously compromised and impaired by perceived environmental annoyances. Also revealed was the fact that the majority of respondents did not conceive the need for adaptation as a coping mechanism. Conclusively, the study recommended suggestively that adaptation to environmental annoyances be encouraged over avoidance and reaction to them; and planners can also employ the indicators of environmental stress as bases for planning and policy on public space and land use management to eliminate or reduce their impacts.
Key Words: Environmental annoyances, Perception, Benin City, Quality of life, Coping strategies.
