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Urban renewal in Nigeria: case study of Lagos state

Research · August 2014

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.13589.37604

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Chima Njoku Okoro G.C.

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Journal of Environmental Science and Water Resources ISSN 2277 0704
Vol. 3(7), pp. 145 - 148, August 2014 2014 Wudpecker Journals

Urban renewal in Nigeria: case study of Lagos state

*Njoku C. and Okoro G.C.
Department of Soil Science and Environmental Management, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Management Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author E-mail: chimarco2001@yahoo.com

Accepted 15 July 2014

The problems of urban centres in Nigeria as reviewed are that most of them are disorganized,
overcrowded, declined, dilapidated and blighted areas and with developed slums. These urban slums
are characterised by deplorable living conditions with poor land use planning, inadequate social
services, coupled with high levels of communicable diseases, and exposure to fire outbreaks, floods
and violence. Slums in Nigeria increases yearly, for instance 42 slums were discovered in Lagos in 1981
which have risen to more than 100 now. Slums in Nigeria are being caused by rapid urbanization,
poverty, inadequate urban housing supply, lack of enforcement of urban development and management
regulations by city authorities, lack of repairs and housing maintenance. These slums need to be
transformed by demolishing old structures, renovating and building new and modern structures and
infrastructures that redefine the areas. The problems of these transformations are site assembly,
relocation and viability. In order to have a successful urban renewal, environmental impact assessment
of the area to be regenerated must be carried out taken the original resident and the environment of the
neighbourhood into account.

Key words: Land-use, slum, transformation and urban.

INTRODUCTION

Urban renewal can be traced back to the earliest days of
urban development, and was noted by those who
witnessed the overcrowded conditions of 19th century in
London, New York, Paris and other major cities of the
developed world affected by the industrial revolution
(Holcomb and Beauregard, 1981). This is a programme
of land development in areas of moderate to high density
urban land use and has had both successes and failures
(Nelson, 1988). It involves the relocation of businesses,
the demolition of structures, the relocation of people, and
the use of eminent domain as a legal instrument to take
private property for city-initiated development projects.
This process when carried out in rural areas is referred to
as village renewal, though may not be exactly the same
in practice (Chigbu, 2012).
Urban renewal is a process where by a neighbourhood
in or near an urban area is transformed by demolishing
old structures, renovating or building some structures,
building new and modern structures and infrastructures
that redefine the neighbourhoods. Agbola (1987) on the
other hand defined urban renewal as a relatively
comprehensive community redevelopment programme
through which a particular city seeks to re-fashion and
rebuild the physical structures of a particular segment of
the city in order to enable it to cope more successfully
with the problems confronting it.
The components of urban renewal include city
expansion, redevelopment, comprehensive road
development, redesigning and beautification of
settlement layout, upgrading of facilities and public goods
and services, repair, construction and silting of drainage
system within an urban centre, and enforcing slum
upgrading and city development. Although, most towns in
Nigeria are experiencing these urban renewal
components but the rates of increase in urbanization and
poverty are militating against these developments.
This work reviewed urbanization in; causes and
characteristics of slums, aims and principles of urban
renewal; benefits of urban renewal and problems of
urban renewal in Lagos Nigeria.
Urbanization in Lagos Nigeria
The urbanization process in Lagos has not been
accompanied with a corresponding supply of adequate
housing, basic infrastructures and amenities. This has
given birth to the development of informal settlements
145 J. Environ. Sci. Water Resources
and slums. The problem of urban centres in Nigeria is
that most of them are grown and unplanned.
Consequently, this has led to the development of
disorganized, overcrowded, declined, dilapidated and
blighted areas and then slums in our cities. Urban slums
are characterised by deplorable living conditions with
poor land use planning, inadequate social services,
coupled with high levels of communicable diseases, and
exposure to fire outbreaks, floods and violence (Agyarko-
Oduro, 2009; Butala et al., 2010).
The deterioration of Nigerian urban centres has been a
process, not a willful act that may be corrected on
command or legislation. The reality in the big cities in
Nigeria such as Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Aba and
Enugu presents a number of problems that are worth
mentioning.
These include urban decay, slum, overcrowding and
lawlessness which lead to the loss of land and natural
resources. The basis of the urban crisis lies in the
dimensions and expansion of the large cities where these
problems become even more severe. For instance 42
slum communities were identified in Lagos metropolis in
1981 by a World Bank Urban Renewal Project (Adelekan,
2004). The number of slums in Lagos is now estimated to
have increased to about 100 due to the inadequacy of
private public institutions to provide housing to the
increasing population.
CAUSES OF URBAN SLUMS
Rapid rate of urbanisation resulting from rural-urban
migration is a major contributing factor to slum
development in developing countries (UNCHS, 2003;
1986). Due to the unsustainable planning and
management, immigrants tend to congregate and seek
accommodation from less desirable areas of the city.
Most slums in cities of developing countries including
Lagos in Nigeria, Bogota in Colombia and Cairo in Egypt
resulted from rapid population increase without a
corresponding housing and social services provision
(Jerome, 1990; UNCHS, 2003).
Another cause of the formation and existence of slums
in developing countries is poverty (Hari, 2006). Poverty
and housing deficit in rapidly growing cities are reasons
for emergence of slums (World Bank, 2002). The meagre
and unsteady incomes compel slum dwellers to poor
housing with inadequate supporting social services. As a
result of the inefficient urban planning and management
system especially in the areas of basic social services
provision and employment and income generating
activities, slum dwellers find it difficult to enjoy a decent
living since they cannot afford high rent.
Inadequate urban housing supply coupled with
increasing demand for housing in many developing
countries propels the formation of slum (Durand-
Lasserve, 1996). This situation has relegated many city
dwellers to slums due to inadequate low cost and decent
housing provision. A study by Durand-Lasserve (1996) in
Zambia revealed that the slums of Lusaka owe their
origins to the city authorities’ neglect of providing low-cost
public housing and concentration on short-sighted and
unsustainable urban and housing policies, both during
colonial and post independence times. Moreover, the
absence of sufficient public housing caused a series of
housing crises and an increased growth of unauthorized
settlements in the urban areas.
Lack of enforcement of urban development and
management regulations by city authorities have resulted
in slum formation. Most city authorities in Nigeria are
overwhelmed by the rapid development of slums and the
spread of informal settlements that their regulatory
interventions are either too late or have failed to make
any impact. Thus development control measures in Africa
are often unable to direct and manage urban
development due to non-compliance of building laws by
developers (Waugh, 2005). Accordingly, decent localities
of urban areas experience slum formation when
sustainable and preventive measures are delayed
(Hiraskar, 1993).
Lack of repairs and housing maintenance also causes
slum formation which is often ignored especially in
developing countries such as Nigeria. According to
Hiraskar (1993) regular maintenance of old buildings in
urban areas can be a major remedy to slum formation.
However, issues of repairs and maintenance are foreign
to Nigeria causing rapid decay and deterioration of
buildings which affects the sustainability of the urban
environment and consequently leads to slum
development. Therefore, tenants, landlords and
government have a role to play in repair and recovering
urban slums.
CHARACTERISTICS OF NIGERIAN SLUMS
These Slums are usually characterised by urban decay,
high rates of poverty and unemployment. As indicated by
Srinivas (1991), many slum dwellers employ themselves
in the informal economy usually with low incomes. These
include street vending, drug dealing, domestic work and
other forms of home based economic activities. As a
result, slums are identified as breeding grounds for social
problems such as crime, drug addiction, alcoholism, high
rates of mental illness and suicide.
They are also characterised by high rates of diseases
due to insanitary conditions, malnutrition, and lack of
basic health care services (Abrams, 1966). Slums are
manifested by poor physical and environmental features
such as poor housing conditions, poor road conditions
and networks, poor drainage facilities, and environmental
pollution. The physical conditions of slums are
manifested by dilapidated buildings and structures,
overcrowding of people and structures with limited

access to basic social services such as water and
electricity (Rangwala, 2002).
The plight of slum dwellers is worsened by the
increasing difficulties in gaining access to affordable land
(Rasna, 2003), which makes them resort to squatting and
illegal occupation of unauthorized lands (nature reserves,
access roads and areas liable to floods). This situation
does not only threaten human habitation, but the
ecological environment also.
Socially, slum dwellers in Nigeria are largely poor
migrants and economic adventurers from neighbouring
villages or countries in search of better economic
opportunities. For example, Waugh (1995) describes
slums in Singapore as unplanned zone within the city
providing shelter for immigrants from neighbouring Asian
countries.
Again, slums are identified with low incomes, absence
of occupational skills and qualifications, and poor
housing. Hari (2006) argues that the increasing trend of
rural-urban migration is making poverty more urbanized,
and this increases the risk of homelessness especially
among slum dwellers in developing countries.
Slum dwellers are often minority and voiceless groups
in urban areas. The interactions between poverty and
insecure tenure in urban slums contribute to further
deterioration of the economic situation of slum dwellers,
leading to a vicious cycle whereby poverty leads to slum
development and it in turn breeds more poverty (Hari,
2006).
Despite, the unsustainable nature of slum communities,
some writers, development organizations argue that
slums tend to have very complex social relationship, as
there is a friendly, intimate and close-knit community,
reminiscent of that which exists in small towns and rural
areas (Durand-Lasserve, 1996; Jerome, 1990;UNCHS,
2003).
Aims of urban renewal
The aims of urban renewal in Nigeria are as listed below:
(a) Improvements of urban environment and
infrastructure by the provision of more open space,
community and other facilities.
(b) Improvements of urban layouts, road networks
and other infrastructure.
(c) The replacement or renovation of obsolete
buildings.
(d) Thinning out of development and population
densities to reduce the strain on overburdened transport
and other infrastructure.
(e) Making land available to meet various uses such
as housing, industrial, commercial, tourism and
transportation.
(f) Redeveloping a particular area in order to act as
a catalyst for the redevelopment of neighbouring areas by
private developers.
Njoku and Okoro 146
PRINCIPLES/METHODS OF URBAN RENEWAL
According to Miller (1959) three principles/methods of
urban renewal are:
Redevelopment
This consists of the removal of existing buildings and the
re-use of cleared land for the implementation of new
projects. Redevelopment leads to the destruction of
badly needed housing units and it does not prevent
slums from reappearing in other parts of the city. It also
contributes to the impoverishment of the original
residents by reduction of job opportunities, as
resettlement areas are usually located outside of the city
proper (Mirbod, 1984). This approach is applicable to
areas in which buildings are in seriously deteriorated
condition and have no preservation value, or in which
the arrangement of buildings are such that the area
cannot provide satisfactory living conditions. In such
cases, demolition and reconstruction, of whole blocks or
of small sections, is often thought to be the only solution
to ensure future comfort and safety of the residents.
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation, often termed conservation or
preservation, is based on preserving, repairing, and
restoring the natural and man-made environments of
existing neighborhoods. It is applicable to areas where
buildings are generally in structurally sound condition
but have deteriorated because of neglected
maintenance. It takes advantage of the existing housing
stock as a valuable resource and adapts old houses to
present day life and acceptable standards by providing
modern facilities (Zhu, 1989).
Rehabilitation recognizes that the limited availability of
funds for new construction and the serious housing
shortage make the option of destroying already-existing
housing appear both unaffordable and imprudent. It
recognizes the value of old neighbourhoods and, by
preserving what is unique, ancient, and specifically
local, it can also contribute to the development of the
tourism, industry and stimulate the economy.
However, many people do not consider rehabilitation
to be a realistic approach because of the technical
difficulties and the amount of work and research
involved. Rehabilitation is often perceived as a complex
and time-consuming process which is more difficult to
implement than redevelopment. It requires a high
degree of social organization and social responsibility,
as well as a total reorganization of the housing process.
Integration
The method of urban renewal referred to as integration,
147 J. Environ. Sci. Water Resources
views rehabilitation and redevelopment as
complementary forces and combines the best aspects of
both approaches. It consists of rehabilitation of what can
realistically be saved, combined with reconstruction of
new buildings in place of those beyond the reach of
feasible rehabilitation (Yu, 1988).
Integration is considered today to be the most
acceptable way to regenerate old neighbourhoods. It
allows for flexible project implementation which can
preserve the traditional urban environment and its
human scale while achieving respectable densities. It
respects the social order of the community by re-
housing the majority of the original residents on the site
and invites mass participation. Integration results in the
creation of rich environments through the integration of
new buildings within the existing neighborhoods and
allows for the development of a new form of
contemporary architecture with local characteristics,
enriching the appearance of the old city while
maintaining its identity.
BENEFITS OF URBAN RENEWAL
These are as enumerated below:
i. It improves quality of life in the city;
ii. It may increase density and reduce sprawl;
iii. It improves the global economic competitiveness
of a city centre;
iv. It improves cultural and social amenity and
v. It may also improve opportunities for safety and
surveillance (Olawepo, 2010; Yu, 1988).
PROBLEMS OF URBAN RENEWAL
The three basic problems in urban renewal are (PELB,
1995):
Site assembly
The process of assembling small lots and individual
properties in multiple-ownership into larger lots capable
of comprehensive redevelopment. The site assembly
problem results from the fact that units in many multi-
storey buildings are in separate ownership, so that
anyone wishing to redevelop has to acquire many
separate legal interests. Even if he succeeds in acquiring
the majority of such interests but fails to acquire the last
one, the whole scheme may fail. In such circumstances,
large scale redevelopment becomes difficult and
financially risky.
Relocation
The problem of relocating tenants in rented
accommodation in old buildings is in many ways one of
the most difficult aspects of urban renewal. Owners may
sell their properties to the developer at a price with which
they are satisfied, often after difficult and protracted
negotiations. Developers who acquire properties must
therefore negotiate with the tenants to obtain vacant
possession. While a minimum compensation is payable
under the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation)
Ordinance (LTO) and most developers pay over the
minimum to obtain a smooth clearance, tenants often find
it difficult to find replacement accommodation at rents
comparable to the ones they have been paying. As old
buildings are redeveloped and rents rise, there is less
low-cost accommodation available and low-income
tenants may be forced out of the urban areas, causing
hardship in many cases, as people have to move away
from family, community and employment.
Viability
The value of the redeveloped properties is not always
sufficient to cover the costs of acquiring existing
properties, relocation and development. The viability
problem increases as fewer low-rise areas remain to be
redeveloped and attention focuses on medium-rise
properties. The costs of acquiring such properties and
relocating residents are higher, while the development
gains from redevelopment are less.
There are large areas where urban renewal is needed
now but where the development potential is insufficient to
cover the cost (much less generate a profit) because of
the need to reduce development densities. Change to a
more valuable land use (e.g. from residential to
commercial) and upgrading of the quality of
accommodation may help to make projects more viable in
some cases. However, such changes, if applied widely,
mean the replacement of large numbers of affordable
urban area flats with commercial property or more
expensive flats.
CONCLUSION
Urban renewal always involved demolition of slum
housing and construction of better and more costly ones.
This leads to displacement and eviction of low-income
residents because the costs and improvements made to
the neighbourhoods increased rental rate which the
original residents may be unable to pay. Consequently,
environmental impact assessment of areas to be
renewed must be carried out taken the original resident
and the environment of the neighbourhood into account.
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