Lagos Flashcards
Location of Lagos
- it lies on the southwest of Nigeria
- at the coast of the Gulf of Guinea
- it is close to the border with Benin
When did Abuja take over as the capital from Lagos?
•1991
How much of Nigeria’s industry is based in and around Lagos
80%
How important is Lagos to Africa
- It is one of three megacities in Africa
* it is the financial centre of west Africa
Lagos population growth rate
600,000 people per year
Area of Lagos
1,000km squared
Average earnings
£670 per year
Gross domestic product
£18 billion per year
Waste per day
10,000 tonnes per day
Reported murderers
1% of households have reported the murder of a family member
Religion
- 68% Christian
* Large minority are Muslim
What was the main cause of migration to Lagos in the 1970s?
- oil boom
* this drew thousands of people t the city for work
Why is there a high rate of natural increases in Lagos
The city’s population is young as most of the migrants are young
Push factors in rural areas to Lagos
- education and health services are poor
- weather is less predictable,droughts and floods occur
- farming has low wage
- few job opportunities
- land shortage for farming
- land is degraded
- terrorise groups such as Boko Haram are active
Problems with Lagos
- congested roads
- high crime rates
- violent street gangs
- short supply of electricity
- poor sewage system
What are the two economies in Lagos
- formal economy- teacher, paying tax
* informal economy- street vendor, don’t pay tax
What opportunities are available in Lagos?
- employment- more jobs in Lagos than anywhere else in Nigeria
- education- more schools and universities, more chance of going into growing industries like finance, film or fashion
- health care- much more hospitals
- electricity- two new power stations to be put in place
- water- public taps, boreholes or buy water from street vendors
How much of Lagos’ population live in squatter settlements or slums?
60%
What is the average wage for the informal economy?
£1 per day
What percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) does Lagos contribute to in Nigeria?
30%
What is the new project in Lagos?
- Eko Atlantic
- plans to be the new financial hub of West Africa
- joint project between the city government and international private investors
- it will be home to 250,000 people and employ 150,000 more
What is the 2016 Employment Trust Fund bill?
•a bill to grabt unemployed people loans to help them being self employed
What percentage of new jobs created are in the informal section?
90%
Waste issues
- only 40% of rubbish is collected
- only 13% is recycled
- toxic fumes are released
- 3,000 tonnes of waste are sorted per day by hand
- workers live at the dump
- natural gases build up and cause fires
What is Lagos State Waste Management?
- a company planning to use rubbish to harness energy from collected methane
- this would produce 25MW enough to power a town
Housing conditions in squatter settlements
- 25% of houses have more than one room
- 10% have a bath, kitchen and toilet
- 11% have piped water
- 10% of toilets have a septic tank
What are the ways of collecting water in Lagos?
- piped supply
- water vendors
- self made Wells or boreholes
- public taps
- river
How are rising sea levels a threat to Lagos?
- Lagos is vulnerable to flooding
- flat, low-lying land that is quick to flood but slow to drain
- it has a wet tropical climate with over 2,000 millimetres of annual rainfall
- rapid urbanisation has covered land with concrete
- squatter settlements have no proper drainage
Average time in traffic per person
3 hours per day
What is air pollution like?
5x higher than the international recommended limit
What has been done to reduce traffic congestion?
- in 2003 Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) was set up
- a bus rapid transit system was introduced into the CBD
- this provides a separate lane for buses to reduce travel times.
- 200,000 people use the service each day, a quarter of all commuters
- there are a lot of taxis known as danfos which carry 10-15 people
How could a transport master plan help Lagos?
- in 2016 a west-east route into the CBD designed to carry 1,400,000 people per day
- this is part of a wider Strategic Transport Master Plan for Lagos
- a new waterway network of ferries
- better urban planning
- a new airport on the Lekki Penisula
- better walking and cycling facilities
How can urban planning improve Lagos?
- create communities on water around Lagos
- the Makoko Floating School was built in 2014
- it can host lessons for 69 children at a time and is also used for a community centre
How can urban planning have environmental benefits?
- the makoko floating school is environmentally stable
- it helps withstand the rising sea levels
- solar panels
- natural ventilation
- shade from sunlight
- local building materials used
What challenges do Lagos face in the 21st century
- growing population- predicted to have a population of 40m by 2035
- population density- there is only limited space for people and is already 4x more crowded than London
- rising sea levels- it will rise 1m by end of 21st century
- water supply- lacks systems for storing water for population
- power supply- poor electricity system
