A city in Transition: Vision, Reform, and Growth in Lagos, Nigeria. Michael O. Filani Cities Alliance United Cities and Local Governments Acknowledgements

Since 1999 the Lagos state government has overhauled planning activities in the state. This manifested in the review of the Lagos State Regional Planning Law in 2005. It witnessed the setting up of several commissions of consultants to prepare land-use plans for several districts and local governments in the state. Along with the passing of new planning laws the State Building Code was also adopted.

The vision of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development is to develop Lagos megacity into a place where people live, work, and recreate in an environment having world-class infrastructure, utilities, and services that support an improved quality of life and cultural diversity. The mission is to plan and facilitate an organised, safe, green, dynamic, economically and culturally vibrant, and sustainable city which supports optimal land use.

In the area of planning the following have been accomplished to achieve the above vision and mission:

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  Preparation of district plans.
  
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  Draft of state town plans and regulations.
  
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  Preparation of layout plans for excised villages.
  
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  Preparation of interim regional and structural plans.
  
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  Resettlement of saw mills in Epe.
  
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  Preparation of the Metropolitan Master Plan for Ikorodu.
  
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  Preparation of model city plans (for Victoria Island and Ikoyi).
  
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  Creation of sites for motor dealers at Mowo Badagry.
  
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  Determination of alignment for proposed major state roads.
  
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  Setting up of the Central Lagos Redevelopment Scheme.
  
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  Urban renewal.
  
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  Markets development.
  
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  Creation of a new building control authority to ensure the construction of safe and good-quality buildings.
  
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  Establishment of the Lekki Free Trade Zone, which is located about 80 km from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Ikeja. This is an international PPP between a Chinese-government-sponsored company (CCECC) and the Lagos state government. It is conceived as a hi-tech industrial zone which will incorporate petrochemical facilities that will utilise Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources. The zone will also accommodate a new international airport, a deep-sea port complex, and other top-of-the-range facilities such as high-class residential apartments, shopping malls, and recreational and service centers. Planned to rank among the most-vibrant free trade zones in the world, it will stimulate development, better public transport facilities, steady electricity supply, decent health facilities, and efficient road linkages, among other infrastructures in this sleepy suburb. The zone will provide enormous job opportunities, international business havens, and immense economic benefits for the existing host communities.
  

The model city plans already prepared are those of Alimosho, Badagry, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Ikoyi/Victoria Island, and Lekki and Mainland (figure 4.3).

Work has started on the urban facilities upgradation through the redevelopment of old regional markets such as Tejuosho, Oluwole, and Balogun into shopping malls (plate 4.9 and 4.10). Local governments were mandated to begin re-development of the various local markets into modern shopping centers provided with small stalls (K-Klamps) to accommodate street traders, thereby removing street trading which has been the bane of Lagos traffic and the cause of environmental degradation.