Slum upgrading in the era of World-Class city construction: the case of Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

The paper examines the tensions that accompany slum upgrading in the era of worldclass city construction. The focus is a slum upgrading project in Lagos, Nigeria. The paper observes the intertwining of modernist and neoliberal ideologies in world-class city construction and in slum upgrading projects. The entanglement centres on a number of shared interests; the prioritization of infrastructure and notions about urban space, participation and citizenship. As documented, the project and by extension world-class city construction fails to acknowledge the livelihoods of the poor and is undermined by protests. Historical legacies and systemic failings of governance present additional obstacles. The paper seeks to broaden the scope of world-class city research by acknowledging the local context, but at the same time recognizing the global links. Along these lines, the paper suggests that slum upgrading provides an opportunity to examine how the local is inserted into the global.

Spatial Pattern of Air Pollutant Concentrations and Their Relationship with Meteorological Parameters in Coastal Slum Settlements of Lagos, Southwestern Nigeria

“…The authors of [31] carried out monitoring and intensity analysis of slum growth in Lagos. The authors of [32] carried out a study on slum upgrading in the era of world-class city construction, while [33] assessed the social capital and higher resilience of slums in the Lagos metropolis. The authors of [34] worked on the spatiotemporal urban growth dynamics of the Lagos Metropolitan region of Nigeria based on hybrid methods for LULC modeling and prediction, but there was no unified, high-resolution, and time-varied air pollutant emission information for the 42 identified communities in Lagos, which were ranked based on their level of decay [35].…”

The impact of flooding on poor communities in Lagos State, Nigeria: The case of the Makoko urban settlement

“…The housing infrastructure in Makoko is built on stilts constructed on water with the majority built very close to power lines (Adama, 2020). Most of the houses are built from domestically-sourced bamboo, concrete blocks, and other locally sourced materials.…”

A Strategy for Achieving Sustainable Urban Development in Coastal Informal Areas through a Participatory Approach .(Dept. A)

“…The Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project (LMDGP) was launched in 2007 by the World Bank with a loan up to two hundred million US dollars (Adama, 2020). The project comprises of four components; infrastructure; public governance, capacity building and urban policy.…”

“…Improve the living conditions of the inhabitants through infrastructural upgrades. (Adama, 2020). Community inclusion was the core elements of the LMDGP, with a collaboration between three main stakeholders (Lagos government, Makoko's community and LMDG / World Bank).…”