Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Little is known about the complex interplay between urban structure and health in rapidly urbanizing cities in Nigeria. METHODS: The study broadly used very high-resolution satellite imagery and gathered primary data. With the aid of the very high-resolution imagery and identified neighborhoods, two neighborhoods each were sampled based on their classified urban structure characteristics. The obtained malaria epidemiologic data were aggregated according to stratified neighborhoods. Analysis of variance was used to determine the mean difference of malaria burden between the spatial structure. RESULTS: The study shows that under 5 malaria varies significantly among the settlement classes (P = 1.118e-05) with highest difference between peri-urban settlement and medium-density settlement (P = 0.0000988). The study shows higher malaria burden in the informal and peri-urban settlement compared with the lower prevalence in formal settlements. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive urban development policies to address health inequities by prioritizing physical infrastructure improvements in marginalized areas. Such improvements will translate to enhanced health equity for rapidly growing informal, poor, and deprived settlement areas and ultimately promote sustainable urban development efforts.