The persistent increase in the occurrence of building collapse with attendant loss of lives in recent years has become a source of national concern in Nigeria. Hence, there is a need to strategically address gaps in proactive and reactive measures directed at preventing the occurrence of building collapse. This study explored how built environment professionals in government agencies, public and private institutions conceive the causes of building collapse, and the disaster risk reduction measures put in place by the state government to prevent and respond to the incidence of building collapse in Lagos state. The purposive snowball sampling technique was adopted to select 42 respondents for in-depth interviews. The findings revealed that building collapse is a common phenomenon in the study area and is primarily caused by institutional failure and human factors. The research further established that most collapsed buildings were old residential buildings. It was also discovered that the disaster risk reduction strategies put in place to curb the occurrence of building collapse were not holistic and effective. The study recommended continuous sensitization of building developers and provision of modern facilities such as drones and global positioning systems by the government for effective monitoring of building development in the state.

The study identified predominant crime type and pattern of crime occurrence in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The research used crime data, by type and location, from January 2005 to December 2010. The spatial distribution of crime types revealed that 68 cases (49%) of offences against individuals occurred in the core area of the city, 40 (29%) in the transition area and 31 (22%) in the suburban, while 184 (20%), 265 (30%) and 451 cases (50%) of offences against property occurred in the core, transition and suburban respectively. The study concluded that there was notable geographical variation in the pattern of crime locations and that this differs with regard to crime type.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze indicators for measuring residents’ level of social and physical vulnerability to human-induced disasters in disaster-prone communities of Lagos, Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted the quantitative research method. Questionnaires were administered to household heads in three disaster-prone communities of Lagos, Nigeria. Using systematic random sampling technique, household heads’ opinions were sampled in 10 per cent of the buildings. This effort culminated in the sampling of 288 household heads in the three communities. Findings The study identified flood, fire outbreak and environmental pollution as the most prevalence disasters in the communities. State of infrastructure, housing conditions and residents’ socioeconomic characteristics were identified as the major factors influencing residents’ level of vulnerability to disasters in the communities. Research limitations/implications The study could be strengthened by looking at other disaster-prone communities in Nigeria with different cultural and political settings. Hence, the view presented in this paper may not be considered generalizable to other parts of the country with different cultural settings. Originality/value To build resilient communities in cities of developing countries, the paper of this nature is important to determine factors influencing residents’ level of vulnerability to disasters. This will aid in strengthening community-disaster preparedness in these countries.

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