Urban Renewal Project Management in South-East Nigeria: Lessons from Enugu and Onitsha Redevelopment Initiatives

Urban renewal projects in Nigerian cities face complex management challenges involving multi-stakeholder interests, land tenure complexities, resettlement requirements, and the coordination of infrastructure and building improvement works across large urban areas. This study examines the professional management of urban renewal projects in two major South-East Nigerian cities: the Ogui Road Corridor renewal in Enugu and the Inland Town redevelopment initiative in Onitsha, Anambra State. Both projects are examined through a comparative case study methodology combining review of project planning documents, procurement records, and progress reports, semi-structured interviews with twelve project managers and fifteen government officials, and a community impact survey administered to eighty affected household and business representatives in each location. Management performance is assessed against a framework of project planning quality, stakeholder engagement, timeline management, budget adherence, and post-project community satisfaction. Results highlight contrasting outcomes: the Enugu corridor project demonstrated relatively effective infrastructure delivery but severe shortfalls in affected business compensation and minimal community participation in replanning design decisions. The Onitsha initiative showed superior stakeholder consultation processes but experienced significant cost overruns attributable to inadequate initial survey of underground utility conflicts. Both projects delayed resettlement compensation to affected households significantly beyond committed timelines. The study distils twelve management lessons applicable to urban renewal project management in South-East Nigeria and recommends the adoption of a standardised urban renewal management manual by the relevant state urban development authorities. Keywords: urban renewal, project management, Enugu, Onitsha, South-East Nigeria.