Professor Samuel Danjuma Wapwera is a Professor of Sustainable Urban Built Environmental Planning and Management and the Dean, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Jos, Nigeria
Professor Wapwera is an accomplished scholar, consultant, and educator in the field of Urban and Regional Planning. He specializes in sustainable urban development, spatial planning, housing policy, and environmental management. His academic journey began with a B.Sc. in Geography (University of Jos, 2001), followed by an M.Sc. in Urban and Regional Planning (University of Jos, 2008), and culminated in a Ph.D. in Built Environment (University of Salford, UK, 2014).
He has held visiting scholar appointments at Northeastern University, Boston and San Diego State University, California, where he contributed to international research on urban regeneration and sustainable planning tools. His career at the University of Jos has spanned over two decades, rising through the ranks from Graduate Assistant to Professor, and serving as Head of Department of Urban and Regional Planning (2019–2021).
Professor Wapwera has published extensively in international and national journals, conference proceedings, and book chapters. His works address critical issues such as housing in mining regions, financing low-income housing, planning authority frameworks, climate change impacts, and urban governance. He is also the author of Urban Development in Metropolitan Areas of Developing Countries: A Case of the Jos Metropolis, Nigeria (2016).
Beyond academia, he has served as an Environmental Consultant with the University of Jos Consultancy Limited, a Town Planning Consultant with ATOPCON, and Assistant State Project Coordinator for the World Bank-supported DLI 11.3 project in Plateau State. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Mortgage Brokers and Lenders and has received recognition for outstanding leadership and contributions to planning education.
Research Interests
- Urban planning, development, and management
- Housing quality and policy in mining regions
- Spatial planning frameworks and governance
- Environmental impact assessment and sustainability
- GIS and remote sensing applications in planning
- Climate change, disaster management, and urban resilience
Academic Philosophy
Professor Wapwera is committed to advancing sustainable urban development through rigorous research, innovative teaching, and community engagement. He believes in bridging theory and practice to address pressing challenges in housing, environmental management, and urban resilience, while mentoring the next generation of planners to be globally competitive and locally impactful.