Urban imaginaries: funding mega infrastructure projects in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

In today's globalized world, mega infrastructure projects have emerged as one of the most popular strategies for attracting private capital and repositioning cities on the competitive landscape. The Lagos Megacity Project (LMCP) was launched to address a longstanding infrastructure crisis and to reinvent Lagos as a modern megacity. Using the LMCP as a case study, the paper examined the challenges facing the funding of mega infrastructure projects. Special attention is given to how capital is mobilized, the kinds of alliances or networks found and what gets prioritized. The paper observed that the alliance formed between the federal, Lagos and Ogun state governments to mobilize public funds quickly unraveled largely due to disputes traceable to the apportioning of fiscal and political responsibilities and the distribution of functions between the different tiers of government. Under the LMCP, disputes emerged between the federal government and the Lagos State Government (LSG) over who was responsible for what. A history of opposition politics and a highly politicized resource allocation system further made cooperation between the two particularly difficult. Furthermore, the LMCP signalled a renewed drive by the LSG to attract private investments through publicprivate partnership. The paper noted a host of problems but crucially there is a preference for elite projects, a practice that is reinforcing socio-spatial exclusion and confirms the persistent inequalities that accompany neoliberal and modernist projects. At the broadest level, the paper points to how modernist projects are fractured or undermined by specific ideologies and practices.

Megaprojects - Socioeconomic and Environmental Dynamics in D. Pedro I-Tamoios Road Axis, São Paulo, Brazil

“…Adama [15], analysing the impacts of the Megacity Project in Lagos, points that megaprojects of infrastructure are always privileged as popular strategies to attract private capital in a competitive environment. Adama [15] is categorical in affirming that there is a preference of elites for megaprojects and that this practice is reinforcing the socio-spatial impact of exclusion and confirms social inequalities, making them increasingly persistent and directly linked to neoliberal projects [15].…”

“…In this context, it is important to emphasise that other municipalities, because they already have an installed capacity, have a lower order of growth, but not less important, such as Atibaia and Caraguatatuba, with 92.9% and 83, 3%, respectively. Analysing the data presented for Added Values of Services, Industrial and Agricultural sectors, the analyses of Adama [15], which emphasises that globally megaprojects of infrastructure are always privileged as popular strategies to attract private capital to a competitive environment become relevant. Thus, according to Adama [15], this connection between development and investments in infrastructure on highways are related to myths in economic development models.…”

“…Analysing the data presented for Added Values of Services, Industrial and Agricultural sectors, the analyses of Adama [15], which emphasises that globally megaprojects of infrastructure are always privileged as popular strategies to attract private capital to a competitive environment become relevant. Thus, according to Adama [15], this connection between development and investments in infrastructure on highways are related to myths in economic development models. Moreover, for some Blanquart and Koning [16], is relevant to verify whether all this expenditure contributes to the development of the regions they serve.…”

Failed Fantasies in a South African Context: the Case of Modderfontein, Johannesburg

“…Moreover, in some places, such as India, they receive disproportionate amounts of investment (Shaw 2012), since they are part of 'world class city dreams' (Schindler and Kishore 2015), warranting further analysis of their consequences. However, while large scale developments, and specifically edge city developments, are being built throughout the world (Adama 2018;Ballard et al 2017;Carmody and Owusu 2016;Das 2015;Grant 2015;Shatkin 2008), their development in African contexts has raised a particular set of questions about the consequences of such an elite-led approach to urban growth, especially in terms of equitable development and environmental impacts. There are two seminal papers which address, through broad overviews, the geography of this problem: Vanessa Watson's 2014 paper on urban fantasies and more recently Femke van Noorloos and Marjan Kloosterboer's 2018 paper on the contested future of Africa's cities.…”

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

“…At the same time, the government declared a commitment to reengage the citizens, regain their trust and ultimately instil wider aspirations to make Lagos the most dynamic megacity in sub-Saharan Africa (Omezi 2014). The LMCP led to a number of projects, notably, the construction of a new town 'the Eko Atlantic City' and a series of Public-Private Partnership initiatives on roads, bridges, housing estates and shopping malls (Adama 2018). Slum upgrading was also high on the agenda.…”