A Critical Spatial Analysis of Environmental Justice in the Siting of Hazardous Facilities in Nigerian Urban Areas

Environmental justice concerns about the disproportionate location of hazardous facilities near low-income and marginalised communities are well-documented in global literature but insufficiently examined in the Nigerian urban context. This study conducts a critical spatial analysis of environmental justice in the siting of hazardous facilities including industrial plants, waste disposal sites, fuel storage depots, and abattoirs across Lagos, Kano, Enugu, and Port Harcourt. Hazardous facility locations are compiled from regulatory databases, satellite imagery interpretation, and field surveys. Socioeconomic vulnerability attributes at the enumeration area level, derived from the 2006 census and 2021 National Living Standards Survey, are spatially linked to proximity-based exposure estimates. Spatial proximity analysis and logistic regression quantify the association between socioeconomic indicators and hazardous facility proximity after controlling for land value gradients and zoning classifications. Results consistently demonstrate that communities with lower income, lower education levels, and higher proportions of informal workers are disproportionately exposed to hazardous facility proximity across all four cities. Keywords: environmental justice, hazardous facilities, spatial analysis, urban Nigeria, socioeconomic vulnerability