Urban paradox and the rise of the neoliberal city: Case study of Lagos, Nigeria

Olajide, Oluwafemi; Lawanson, Taibat

doi:10.1177/00420980211014461

Cited by 26 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…In the Global South, this has manifested itself as ‘the state working as an agent for financial, tourism, and real-estate capital’ (Gillespie, 2016: 73), including foreign capital (inter alia, Xue and Huang, 2015; Gillespie, 2016; Omoegun et al, 2019; Olajide and Lawanson, 2021). Gillespie (2016: 74, emphasis added) likens this to ‘the colonial policy of segregating global and indigenous business activities … [and] the activist approach of the postcolonial developmental state regarding land assembly for urban development’.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The poverty caused thus pushes more people into activities such as street vending. This is the essence of what Olajide and Lawanson (2021) call the ‘urban paradox’.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Olajide and Lawanson (2021: 3-4), citing Harvey (2007b), argue that neoliberal policies as practised by municipal policymakers give rise to ‘creative destruction’, where ‘urban transformation destroys the social and economic structures of everyday people while creating urban modernity’ (Olajide and Lawanson, 2021: 3-4). The paradox arises because neoliberal policies (in their study, the Lagos State Ten-Point Agenda, and the Lagos State Development Plan 2012–2025), led to projects that, instead of promoting economic development, economic growth and reduced poverty have ‘resulted in a city where the poor, in addition to suffering social exclusion, are also victims of the city's development’ (Olajide and Lawanson, 2021: 15). Neoliberal policies and the absence of trickle-down thus create the conditions by which poverty and inequality grow, placing greater demands on individuals engaging in ‘informal’ activities such as street vending to survive.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neoliberal policies and the absence of trickle-down thus create the conditions by which poverty and inequality grow, placing greater demands on individuals engaging in ‘informal’ activities such as street vending to survive. This leads to the further implementation of failing policies, as policymakers persist in seeing such activities as justifying their policies rather than being a consequence of them (inter alia, Xue and Huang, 2015; Gillespie, 2016; Onodugo et al, 2016; Huang et al, 2017; Olajide and Lawanson, 2021).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The poverty caused thus pushes more people into activities such as street vending. This is the essence of what Olajide and Lawanson (2021) call the 'urban paradox'. Olajide and Lawanson (2021: 3-4), citing Harvey (2007b), argue that neoliberal policies as practised by municipal policymakers give rise to 'creative destruction', where 'urban transformation destroys the social and economic structures of everyday people while creating urban modernity' (Olajide and Lawanson, 2021: 3-4).…”

Section: Neoliberalism and The Everyday: Criminalising Informality Wi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Institutional incongruence, the everyday, and the persistence of street vending in Lagos: a demand-side perspective

2022

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Informal street vending is the most widespread activity in the global informal economy and a central part of citizens’ everyday lives, both sellers and patrons, in the urban centres of the Global South. Recently, however, authorities have started to ban street vending and even buying from vendors, as they impose policies that seek to control access to and use of urban spaces in pursuit of urban modernisation. Despite this, street vending continues. We seek understanding of this policy failure, from the perspective of the patrons of street vendors, a largely-neglected focus. Adopting a neoinstitutionalist framework, we utilise the concept of institutional incongruence to frame our empirical research. We apply multinomial analysis to an in-depth survey of 529 individuals in Lagos, Nigeria, complemented by 10 interviews. We find patrons are motivated by multiple economic, social and spatial factors. Our results, as well as codifying and confirming existing understandings of patrons’ motivations, introduce a distinct factor – necessity – into the literature. These results allow us to offer important policy insights. Gaps between citizens’ behaviour impacted by the formal institutions of neoliberal urban policies, and the longstanding informal institutions shaping custom, and community, provide new insights into Lagosians’ everyday lives as patrons of street vendors. Moreover, these urban policies are shown to drive people towards street vending, as sellers and patrons – the opposite of their intended outcome. For policies to be developed that can reduce institutional incongruence and improve, rather than worsen, Lagosians’ lives, our results offer an important starting point.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The poverty caused thus pushes more people into activities such as street vending. This is the essence of what Olajide and Lawanson (2021) call the ‘urban paradox’.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Neoliberalism and The Everyday: Criminalising Informality Wi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Institutional incongruence, the everyday, and the persistence of street vending in Lagos: a demand-side perspective

2022

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Street level bureaucrats, policy entrepreneurship, and discretion in enforcing bans on motorcycle taxis in Lagos, Nigeria

Ackrill,

Igudia,

Olusanya

et al. 2023

European Policy Analysis

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Recently, the authorities in Lagos have implemented policies progressively restricting the operation of okadas (motorcycle taxis). We analyze the enforcement of these measures through the lens of street‐level bureaucrats (SLBs) and street‐level policy entrepreneurs (SLPEs). Doing so, we introduce two novel features into the literature. First, the extant literature focuses primarily on policies that deliver public services, whereas policies can also control proscribed behavior. We refer to these as service delivery and regulation, respectively. Second, the exercise of discretion by SLBs and SLPEs can result in both “underenforcement” and “overenforcement” of regulatory policies, the latter potentially involving breaking the law. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in Lagos between 2021 and 2023, we find strong evidence of both underenforcement and overenforcement of okada bans over time, but with more overenforcement. This offers important insights conceptually for the SLPE literature and empirically to the challenges of policing urban Lagos.

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Interrogating the Social Capital of Internally Displaced Persons in Nigerian Cities

Roberts

Lawanson

2022

The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Change

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Urban paradox and the rise of the neoliberal city: Case study of Lagos, Nigeria

Cited by 26 publications

References 55 publications

Institutional incongruence, the everyday, and the persistence of street vending in Lagos: a demand-side perspective

Institutional incongruence, the everyday, and the persistence of street vending in Lagos: a demand-side perspective

Street level bureaucrats, policy entrepreneurship, and discretion in enforcing bans on motorcycle taxis in Lagos, Nigeria

Interrogating the Social Capital of Internally Displaced Persons in Nigerian Cities

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