Power supply, generation, and distribution are some of the many challenges facing developing nations. Lagos receives 25 percent of the power generated in Nigeria every day, but it’s only enough to meet less than 10 percent of the energy demand. In response to the inadequate supply, the city government has created three running independent power project (IPP) plants that generate energy, and two more are scheduled for completion before the end of 2014. Read more.
El suministro, la generación, y la distribución de energía son algunos de los muchos retos de las naciones en desarrollo. Lagos recibe el 25 por ciento de la energía generada en Nigeria a diario, pero esta energía es sólo suficiente para cubrir menos del 10 por ciento de la demanda de energía. En respuesta a la oferta inadecuada, el gobierno de la ciudad ha creado tres Productores de Energía Independientes (IPP, por sus siglas en ingles), plantas que generan energía, y dos más están programadas para completarse en el 2014. Leer más.
Submitted by Wura — Thu, 03/13/2014 – 15:36
I’ve written a fair bit about the housing problem in Lagos. A city of anything between 15 and 18 million persons, with a 48.6% poverty rate (2012), and an acute shortage of low-cost housing. There’s of course no shortage of luxury housing. Victoria Island and Ikoyi are home to hundreds of empty luxury apartments; priced out of reach of all but the insanely wealthy. IT entrepreneur Jason Njoku has got an interesting post on the economics of housing prices in Lagos. Two years ago I wrote extensively on the Eko Atlantic City project being spearheaded by the state government, adding 9 square kilometers of reclaimed luxury territory (“the Manhattan of West Africa”) to Lagos’ Victoria Island. Any news of progress in terms of access to (relatively) low-cost housing is therefore much welcome. Which leads me to the focus of today’s post. Read more.
Submitted by Tolu Ogunlesi — Mon, 03/03/2014 – 12:47
I recently attended the launch of an exhibition at the Goethe Institute’s Lagos office, on the “Post-Oil City”, drawing on efforts from all around the world to create cities that have tamed the traditional hunger for fossil fuels. Some of them are brand new cities (like Masdar in Abu Dhabi), others are existing cities trying to make changes (Curitiba, Brazil, which in 1974 launched the world’s first BRT system). Read more.
Submitted by Tolu Ogunlesi — Fri, 01/31/2014 – 15:03
Data has emerged showcasing the latest trends of our demographic shift – the global population now articulates a ‘youth bulge’. The UN-Population Demographic Profile (2010) show children, and ‘youths’, comprise 1.6bn, and 1.0bn, of the population in less-developed regions. The population is younger; and Sub-Saharan Africa is no exception. Attention is now turning to youths: what young people do, what opportunities they initiate for their families and nations, and what it means to be ‘young’ in the developing world. However, an important caveat requires recognition: the focus has been particularly male-focused. Our understanding of girls, within both public and private spaces, remains limited. Such is the debate in this blog post – if we are now looking at ‘kids’ in the city and development, what are the experiences of girls? What can we learn about the city through an engendered perspective? Fundamentally, who is responsible to grant equal rights? Two models of intervention are discussed be, each using alternative methods to provide rights for girls. However, each acts to reinforce the need to improve our understandings on ‘being’ a girl. Read more.
Submitted by Gemma Todd — Mon, 01/20/2014 – 10:08
Lagos is on the cusp of a radical change in the way the city is organised. Not only is the first light rail being built in the city, thirty years after the idea was first mooted; the government has also recently announced that construction will soon start on the 4th Mainland Bridge, long overdue by many standards. A few years ago I listened to a talk by the designers of that bridge, and was fascinated by how they envisioned it to not only work as a conventional bridge but also a direct stimulant/supporter of economic activity. The design is of a two-level bridge, the upper one for vehicular movement, the lower one for a combination of a tram line, rows of shops and goods vendors, and a pedestrian lane; that idea informed by the realization that modernizing Lagos does not have to happen at the expense of the trademark hustle-and-bustle that gives the city its peculiar character and feel; the things that make Lagos Lagos. Read more.
Submitted by Tolu Ogunlesi — Mon, 01/06/2014 – 12:17
Lagos is the most populous city state in Nigeria, home to over five percent of the nation’s 166 million residents, and ever growing. To manage this large group of people and to create an environment that is not only safe and accommodating but also filled with opportunities for improved living and continuous growth, the state government and various civil society organisations have spent 2013 working on a number of ingenious projects to achieve these goals. Read more or join the discussion.
Submitted by Wura — Mon, 12/23/2013 – 00:00
Within development studies a shift has been identified. An increasing sense of consciousness has emerged on whose ideas are being used to theorise development practice, whether they are applicable, and offer effective solutions. The post-development school of thought is centred on deconstructing ‘universal’ ideas of development. Novel viewpoints have emerged which are transforming how the ‘developing’ world is understood and what role citizens of the Global South can play. With post-development thought, urban researchers, and planners, are advancing new thinking to plan inclusive cities in the Global South. In a succeeding event on urbanisation at the African Research Institute, the subject matter was how urban planning in Africa is adapting for the future. Read more.
Submitted by Editor — Thu, 12/19/2013 – 15:32
According to the 2010 sentinel survey of Nigeria, Lagos has an HIV prevalence rate of 5.1 percent. The survey shows that the majority of the state’s HIV presence is in urban areas; the rural prevalence is only 1.3 percent. In light of the high and growing HIV prevalence in Lagos, a number of agencies, private firms and civil society organisations are working hard to spread the word about HIV prevention and to care for patients. Read more or join the discussion.
Submitted by Wura — Mon, 12/02/2013 – 00:00
In 2004, an estimated 5,000 lives were lost from road crashes on Nigerian motorways. This number more than tripled in 2006, with an estimated 16,000 people killed as a result of road crashes. Low awareness of road safety among road users (pedestrians and motorists), and poor road conditions are some critical factors responsible for these avoidable fatalities. The city of Lagos is crawling with millions of people, the majority of whom travel on foot. Recently, there has been more emphasis on keeping city pedestrians safe from harm’s way by improving road safety rules and infrastructure. Read more or join the discussion.
Submitted by Wura — Mon, 11/04/2013 – 00:00
It is widely believed that urbanisation is occurring faster in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else in the world, as migrants move from rural to urban settlements. This is a fallacy. While the populations of numerous urban areas are growing rapidly, the urbanisation levels of many countries are increasing slowly – if at all. Natural increase, rather than net in-migration, is the predominant growth factor in most urban populations. African governments, policymakers and international donors need to acknowledge fundamental changes in urbanisation trends, and respond to the irrefutable messages these impart about urban employment, incomes and economic development. Read more.
Submitted by Editor — Mon, 10/21/2013 – 13:16 