Lagos Case Study Flashcards
What is Lagos
A magacity in nigeria. City population is over 21 million people
Lagos location
located at outlet of Lagos lagoon on the Atlantic western coast. Location is ideal for ports
Lagos transport connections
Well connected roads to other major towns in Nigeria e.g Abuja
International port and airport making it an important centre for regional and global trade
Lagos CBD
Lagos island
Modern high-rise officd buildings,local gov headquaters and bamks
Lagos inner city
Mushin
Older, high density, low quality houses
Ikeja
Large industrial estate built in the 1960s with factories
Lagos suburbs
Victoria island Mkdern high class residential and commercial - lots of businesses and shops
Lagos rural-urban fringe
Ojo
Sprawling,low density new housinh on the outskirts of the city
Lekki
New industrial zone and port being built
Lagos growth has caused change in land use
City has expanded outwards, lots forcing people forced to move to rural-urban fringe as couldnt afford rising house prices on inner city
Land has been reclaimed from the lagoon. Land around the CBD is in high demand ans very valuable so artificial islands have been built e.g banana island are built on reclaimed land and contain huge houses in gates communities
Previous empty areas are now built on e.g slums are built on areas of wastlands. In other undesirable locations like makoko people have built wooden huts on stilts in the lagoon
People in lagos have more opportunities
Income are about 4 times higher in lagos than those in rural areas and informal sector jobs mean most people can find a way of making monkey. Huge population mean there is a large market for services
Lagos is home to many of the country’s banks, gov departments and manufacturing industries. There are two major ports and a fishing industry. Rapid growth of city means there are lots of contruction jobs
There are more health care centres and hospitals and a better range of medicine in Lagos and better access to higher education- lagos has 6 unis
Lagos challenges
Squatter settlements
Poor employment conditions
Water supply
Traffic congestion
Lagos squatter settlement
Over 60% of city population live in slums
Houses are flimsy, wooden huts. These are illegally built, people face eviction if slums are demolished to clean up the city
The only electricity comes from illegal connections that often cut off
High levels of crime with gangs that patrol committing crimes and acting as police in slum area
Lagos poor employment conditions
There arent enough formal jobs for the growing population
About 60% of population work in informal jobs
There’s no protection for informal workers. Street-sellers stores are bulldozed to make way for new developments and road widening
Lots of people live on less than $1.25 per day
Lagos water supply
Only about 40% of the city is connected to the state water supply. These pipes are old and rusty, the water often gets contaminated with sewage
Sate water company supplies less than half of what is needed. Water is in such a shortage that people pay hugely inflated prices to get water from informal sellers
Lagos traffic congestion
Lagos has some of the worst traffic cuz:
little investment in transport infrastrucre despite city growing enormously
public transport is limited although there are plans to improve e.g a light rail train
The CBD is on an island with only 3 bridges linking it to the rest of the city
Lagos social inequality
Wealthy people
can afford better housing, the very rich can live in gated communities e.g banana island
They can also afford to live closer to work so they dont have to face traffic congestion everyday
Very wealth can afford own electricity generators while Lagos doesnt have enough electricty to generate whole city so neighbourhoods took turns to have electrity
Poor people
Poeple couldnt afford high quality housing end up living in slums on land that regularly floods or is close to polluting factories.
Electricity is not available to the poorest people in slums, meaning they are reliant on polluting cooking stoves or small petrol generators, which cause pollution and reduce quality of life.
Lagos corruption
Corruption is very common in Nigeria. The gov can introduce laws e.g to regulate traffic, but the wealthy know they can ignore them and bribe the police if they get caught
Sustainability
Improving things for people today without negatively affecting future generations.
Gov are trying to make Lagos more sustainable
Improving water supply
improving air quality
Reducing traffic congestion
Improving water supply
Gov begun work on a $2.5 billion plan which includes new water treatment plans and distribution networks. In the meantime water kiosks are being introduced, where people can buy water at a lower price than from informal water sellers until they connect
improving air quality
Small electricity generators are a big source of air pollution. To improve air quality the government banned the imports of small generators and instead communities are encouraged get together to run one larger generator, which will produce less emissions overall
Communities and NGOs are trying to improve Lagos and sustainability
Improving health
Improving City Housing
Improving education
Improving Health
CHIEF is an NGO that aims to develop sustainable health care in deprived areas of Lagos by opening community health centres, particulary for disadvantaged woman and children.
They also run education projects in local communities, to make people more aware of health issues
Improving City Housing
SEAP is a Nigerian NGO that promotes sustainable livelihood for the poorest people in society. For example it offers small loan to poor communities at affordable rates, so that people can afford to get a mortgage on a house.
Improving education
The Oando Foundation is a charity that is aiming to create a sustainable education system in Nigeria by improving school attendance and the quality of education on offer. The foundation involved local communities in each project so they support the school.
Top-down advantage
Can achieve large improvements that affect the whole city, e.g the improved water supply should provide enough water for everyone at a low cost by 2020
Can carry out high cost projects that communities or NGOs would struggle to fund
Can address economic, social and environmental sustainability
Bottom-up advantage
Planned with the local community so it has their support and can target issues that most concern local people
Often funded by donations from more developed countries or wealthy people, so there’s low cost to the people they help or the Nigerian gov
Top-down disadvantage
Often very expensive, e.g Nigeria had to borrow almost $1 billion from the World Bank to fund construction of its light rail
May not help those most in need, e.g the ban on small generators affects the poor more than the rich as they are less able to afford cleaner alternatives
Bottom-up disadvantage
Small scale so project reach fewer people
Funds are limited - escpially during economic recession when the need may be greatest. Schemes often rely on people in more developed countries
Can lack coordination as there may be several NGOs with the same aims working separately
