Nigeria, Oct. 7 -- Akure is one of Nigeria's emerging cities. Located within Ondo State in the country's south west, it's a settlement about 350kms from Lagos where roads meet from major towns such as Ilesa, Ondo, Owo and Ado-Ekiti.

Its population is climbing fast. In 2006 it was home to about 484,798 people. Today the population is estimated to be about 637,458 and growing as people move to it from rural areas.

But the way in which local authorities are going about building the city is deeply flawed. It also doesn't to take into account lessons learnt from elsewhere in the world about how best to build healthy cities. For example, one of the main health risks for city dwellers is a lack of access to green spaces. Another is the fact th...