Land use planning: Panacea a Sustainable Lagos Megacity

Land Use Planning: Panacea for
a Sustainable Lagos Megacity
Samuel Dekolo
Department of Urban and Regional Planning,
University of Lagos, Nigeria
A 2-Day National Conference in
Commemorating UNILAG @ 50
25 – 26 July, 2012
Akoka, Lagos Italy
MAKING ROOM
FOR THE LAGOS MEGACITY

Presentation Overview
 This presentation examines unplanned spatial
expansion of the Lagos Megacity and its sustainability
implication.
 It examines theoretical underpinnings of land use
planning and their applicability in our local context
and proposes a holistic land use planning approach
for the Megacity’s sustainability.
Leke Oduwaye & S. O. Dekolo,

 The growth of Lagos like cities in most developing countries is
Dynamic, Diverse and Disordered –and spatially intensive. This
growth, which is also branded by sprawling developments in
peripheral areas has stemmed problems like poverty, climate
change, natural resource depletion and diminution of
agricultural and ecological and lands.
 Peri-urban towns and communities of the city often lack clear
planning administration and regulation. Thereby they suffer the
worst consequences of urbanization like poverty, lack of
infrastructure, lack of tenure, land speculation, pollution, etc.
 With its progression into being the third largest megacity in the
world in the closest future, these burdens will likely be heavier
except proactive planning measures are put in place. It is this
vein this presentation proposes land use planning as a panacea
for sustainable development of the Lagos Megacity.
Introduction

The Global Urban Trend and
Emergence of Megacities
 The year 2008 marked the Dawn of the Urban
Millennium; a silent but salient milestone in human
history, in which half of humanity, about 3.3 billion
now live in urban areas. The figure is expected to
increase to 4.9 billion by 2030 with majority of the
new urbanites (about 80 percent) living in developing
countries of Africa and Asia (UNFPA, 2007).

Source: Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision
and World Urbanization Prospects: The 2007 Revision, http://esa.un.org/unup, Thursday May 03, 2012; 11:09:22 AM.

 The global trend of
urbanisation has led to the
formation of large urban
agglomerations with a
population of 10 million or
more known as megacities.
In 2007, nineteen (19)
megacities were identified
in the world and it was
projected to reach 27 by
2025 (FIG, 2010).
Locations of the World Megacities

The Lagos Megacity
 Lagos is the most populous city in
sub-Saharan Africa, with a
population of over 12 million people.
Furthermore, in 2007, studies by
United Nations on World
Urbanization Prospects, ranked
Lagos 9th among the 28 current and
prospective megacities in the world
with a standard of living score of
19%.
 It is expected to accommodate
about 24.4 million people that in
2015 (barely four years away)
acquiring the status of the 3rd
largest megacity in the world.

The Lagos Megacity
 The Megacity region as a
continuous built up area
spanning over 153,540
hectares of land comprising
virtually all the Local
Government Areas of Lagos
State and four in Ogun State
i.e., Sagamu, Owode, Ifo
and Ado-Odo/Otta
(Redevelopment of Lagos
Megacity Region Report,
2006)

Megacity=Mega-problems?
 Though megacities are engines of economic growth,
they have also been saddled by environmental,
economic and social burdens. These burdens include
growth of slums and informal settlements,
unsustainable land use, commuting and traffic
problem, climate change arising from energy
consumption and greenhouse gases, poverty, urban
violence, lack of infrastructure, poor sanitation and
food insecurity etc.

 The result of a research
survey carried by the FIG
Commission 3 to determine
city administration problems
in seven (7) leading
megacities of the world
(Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul,
Istanbul, London, New York
and Lagos) reveals that
Lagos has the highest
challenges.
Leke Oduwaye & S. O. Dekolo, University of Lagos, Nigeria

Problems
Lagos (Nigeria)
(Q)
Hong Kong SAR
(China) (Q)
Tokyo (Japan)
(Q)
Istanbul (Turkey)
(V)
London (U.K.)
(V)
Seoul (Korea) (Q)
New York (USA)
(V)
Informal
settlements
3 0 1 1 0 0 0
Traffic
management
3 2 1 1 1 1 0
Natural hazards
3 0 1 1 1 1 1
Unclear
responsibilities
and mandates
3 0 0 0 0 0 0
Uncoordinated
planning
3 0 0 0 0
-
0
Water
management
3 2 1 1 0 0 0
Provision of
continuous
electrical power
3 0 1 0 0 0 0
Visual pollution
and garbage
disposal
3 2 1 0 0 0 1
Air and water
pollution control
3 2 1 0 1 1 1
Population growth - - - 1 1 - -
*Weight Score
- = (No Info.)
N=(None)=0
Y /Low=(Low)=1
Y/Med=(Med)=2
Y/High=(High)=3
27/27
100 %
8/27
29.6 %
7/27
25.9 %
5/30
16.7 %
4/30
13.3 %
3/24
12.5 %
3/27 1
1.1%
Ranking
(magnitude of
problems)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

The spatial and demographic growth
 Since independence in 1960 the city has experienced
tremendous spatial and demographic growth which
has led to continuous expansion which led to the
annexure of rural communities and the loss of forest
and agricultural lands to built-up areas.
of Lagos Megacity

Population Growth of Lagos
City 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2007 2010 2015 2020
Abuja 23 29 48 77 125 204 330 526 832 1315 1576 1994 2558 2971
Benin City 83 113 163 233 335 480 689 845 975 1124 1190 1302 1520 1755
Ibadan 570 668 809 980 1186 1436 1739 1993 2236 2509 2628 2835 3270 3752
Ilorin 179 222 268 323 389 457 515 580 653 735 771 835 970 1123
Kaduna 99 173 266 408 628 853 961 1083 1220 1375 1442 1560 1807 2083
Kano 229 343 542 855 1350 1861 2095 2360 2658 2993 3140 3393 3914 4487
Lagos 762 1135 1414 1890 2572 3500 4764 5966 7233 8767 9466 10572 12403 14134
Maiduguri 105 156 216 300 416 531 598 673 758 854 896 969 1125 1301
Ogbomosho 247 333 378 428 485 549 622 704 798 904 951 1031 1199 1386
Port Harcourt 135 198 266 358 482 604 680 766 863 972 1020 1104 1280 1479

Lagos, 14134
Kano, 4487
Ibadan, 3752
Abuja, 2971
Kaduna, 2083
Urban Growth of Lagos
Benin City, 1755
PoOrgtM bHaoiamdrucZoogasuurhirroati,,, 111234390783196
Ilorin, 1123
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
POPULATION
Nigerian Cities with Poplation 750,000 or More in
2007

Urban Growth of Lagos Metropolis
2006
Spatial Expansion of Lagos
City (1960-2006)
 In 1963, the population was 1.4 Million people with its
urban population put at 46% .The following census of 1991
puts its population at 5.6 Million with its urban areas
accounting for 92%. This is quite high compared to
previous censuses. In the 2006 census, the population
rose to 9.1 million with its urban development extending
beyond the state boundaries and making it a Megacity
and one of the largest conurbations in the world.

How can we ensure
sustainability of the city?

Land Use + Sustainability Trajectory
 Land use changes due to city expansion have serious
ecological repercussions and pose a great deal of challenge
to environmental sustainability at local and global scales. It
is a major driving force of global environmental change,
which affects the earth systems.
 Prevailing global changes linked to deforestation,
desertification, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, climate
change, carbon emission etc, are consequences of
unsustainable use of land or unsustainable practices.

Land use planning
 Land use planning is defined as the
process of protecting and improving
the living, production and recreation
environment in a city through the
proper use and development of
land” (Leung, 2003). In other land
use planning tries to maximize the
potentials of the environment for
the use and enjoyment of everyone
through decisions and actions on
equitable use of land resources.
Sustainable Development
 Sustainability was defined by
the Bruntland Commission
(1987) as the “ability to meet
today’s global economic,
environmental, social needs
without compromising the
opportunity for future
generations to meet theirs”.

 Moreover, due to the overwhelming importance of
land use decisions in achieving sustainable
development, Chapter 10 of Agenda 21 affirmed that
land use planning was essential in achieving an
integrated approach to planning and management of
land resources.
 However, having just concluded Rio+20, how have we
been able to transform these policies to realities in
our local context?

Land Use + Sustainability Trajectories
Land Use Framework
Environmental (Biophysical)
Economic
Social
Institutional
Sustainability
Dimensions
Environmental
Economic
Social
Institutional

Sustainability
Dimensions
Environmental
Economic
Social
Institutional
This generally deals with maintaining
stock of natural resources above certain
thresholds. It includes biodiversity
preservation, monitoring resource
depletion, ensuring non-renewable
resources are preserved for the future
generation and mitigating
environmental impact.

Sustainability
Dimensions
Environmental
Economic
Social
Institutional
This ensures a steady and continuous
stream of income for everyone and at
different levels, thereby eradicating
poverty among households,
communities and countries. There is a
thrust to increase food production and
real income, promote efficient
investment, maintain productivity at all
times and derive economic benefit from
land.

Sustainability
Dimensions
Environmental
Economic
Social
Institutional
It is aimed at ensuring equitable access
to resources, information and services.
It also protects acquired rights to land
and promotes active stakeholders
participation in law and policy
development. Sustainability also
ensures redistribution of wealth derived
from land resources, while ensuring
accountability and proper management
land resources benefits.

Sustainability
Dimensions
Environmental
Economic
Social
Institutional
It will be practically impossible for the
three dimensions mentioned above to
be achieved without the establishment
of formal and informal institutions that
will exercise its political will and transfer
to the next generation.

Land Use Framework
Economic
Social
Institutional
The development of land resources
must first and foremost give
considerations to its bio-physical and
ecological framework. This includes its
climate, terrain, topography, hydrology,
soil characteristics, and etc. Suitability
of land for agricultural use may be
determined by soil fertility, rainfall,
slope and temperature. Recreational
uses may require natural landforms as
hill for ski, river or beaches for
swimming, etc. Areas with ecological
importance that are rich in flora and
fauna may be conserved in spite of
demand for urban use for such land.

Land Use Framework
Economic
Social
Institutional
Even though the planner exercises his
power in allocating land uses, he does
not have control on the land market,
which seems to be the overriding
determinant of who owns what land
and what it is used for. Land market
prices are determined by the highest
bidder, this has led to scenarios where
the highest and best ‘economic’ use
may not always be the best sustainable
use.

Land Use Framework
Economic
Social
Institutional
Societal and individual values, belief,
customs and associations are major
players in the use of land. Studies on
human ecology shows that people tend
to agglomerate according to their
‘social class’, ethnicity, etc

Land Use Framework
Economic
Social
Institutional
Government interventions, policies and
regulations play a pivotal role in land
use management and could determine
who uses a piece of land and what it is
used for. Policies and legislation like the
land use decree, zoning ordinances and
restrictions are meant to ensure land is
used for the highest and best public
benefit

How Relevant are Land Use
Planning Theories?

Land Use Planning Theories
 Planning theories are the component parts of the
discipline. Land use planning theories are those
statements, which have gone through empirical test
and tend to explain the community, urban or town
process by asking these questions: why do
communities exists? How has change occur in a place?
What are the basic structure and component parts? It
also provides a basis for prediction of future growth
or trends.

Overview of Land Use Planning
Theories
 There are four well-documented planning processes
that emerged before the 1990s which will be
reviewed in this chapter; they are the rationalist,
incremental, mixed scanning and the systems
approach. However, in the post-1990s and the
twenty-first century, there have been paradigm shifts
these traditional approaches which will be discussed;
they are the new urbanism, communicative
rationality and Spatial Planning

 The New urbanism refers to a design-oriented approach to
land use planning and urban development. It is often
labeled neo-traditionalism and utopianism because it
paints picture of a desirable city, which could obtained
through planning.
 The new urbanists are inclined towards ‘environmental
determinism’ using spatial relations to determine social
behaviours and actions. The neighbourhood and
community plans are seen as the basic spatial unit of land
use planning.
New Urbanism

Communicative Rationality
 The Communicative Rationality Theory was developed in
the late 1980s by Jurgen Habermas. It is also known as the
collaborative model, in which plans are developed through
participations, consultations and negotiations; the land use
planners’ role is more of a mediator between various
stakeholders. The disadvantages of this model are the
longer time it takes to reach a consensus and the
subjectivity that may prevail through sectional interests of
stakeholders rather than basic planning standards (see
Feinstein, 2005).

From Land Use to Spatial Planning
 Spatial Planning is a paradigm shift from the
traditional land use planning. This concept surpasses
the traditional planning by investigating the
interaction of different policies and practice across
regional space, and sets the role of places in a wider
context. It goes well beyond ‘traditional’ land-use
planning and sets out a strategic framework to guide
future development and policy interventions,
whether or not these relate to formal land use
planning control.

Spatial Planning Contd.
 Spatial Planning is an activity centered on making decisions
relating to the location and distribution of land use activities; it is
aimed at the utilization of land resources in a planned and
organized manner to meet the needs of the present and future
generation, thereby ensuring sustainable development .
 A spatial planning framework will include the overall strategy to
be adopted by the public sector to influence the distribution of
people and activities in spaces of various scales (local, regional,
national). It includes urban growth management, land use
planning, urban planning, regional planning, transport planning,
social planning, economic planning, community planning and
environment planning.

How Can We Achieve Sustainability
by Land Use Planning?


Requisites for Sustainable Land Use
 Sustainable land use planning relies on timely and accurate
information on the existing land use and land cover pattern
and its distribution over time and space. Questions the land
use planner must answer from land use inventory studies
will be: what used to be and what is (An understanding the
past and present situation)? What should be (A probe into
future requirements)? This will lead to the answer of the
question how it should be (Preparing the plan)?
Planning

Probing into the Past and Present
 Sustainable land use planning requires information
on land-cover and land-use; these are two different
concepts that has become a central component in
current strategies for managing natural resources
and monitoring environmental change
 Use of GIS and Remote Sensing techniques can he
very handy in closing this gap.
 However, what is the level of GIS implementation
and the Spatial Data Infrastructure in Lagos?
 What happened to LAGIS?

Probe into Future Requirements
 Through land use modeling techniques, estimations and
projections can be made. This will provide a
foreknowledge of possible consequences of land used
decisions and proposals.
 Whatever is foreseen through our techno-scope and
spatial standards, people participation in determining the
future assessment is necessary, so that we do not prepare
plans that meets wants rather than need.
 As much as we provide the technical knowledge needed in
estimating what is required, there must be negotiations
and consensus reached amongst all stakeholders.

Preparing the Plan
 There is slant in our land use planning, which seem to
have relapsed to “mere physical planning”. This is
because we have equated land use planning to
physical planning and development control. The old
traditions of environmental and physical determinism
imbedded in our designs without recourse to social,
cultural and polity has made our plans a mere
blueprint for the archives (eg. the Lagos Metropolitan
Master Plan and the Regional Plan, 1980-2000).

 Land use planners in Sub-Saharan African countries may
have to learn from their counterparts from Europe and
other western countries, where there is a paradigm shift
from the traditional land use planning to Spatial Planning.
 This concept surpasses the traditional planning by
investigating the interaction of different policies and
practice across regional space, and sets the role of places
in a wider context. It goes well beyond ‘traditional’ land-use
planning and sets out a strategic framework to guide
future development and policy interventions, whether or
not these relate to formal land use planning control.
Conclusion

Recommendations and Policy
 It is also suggested that the land use planners be re-trained on
the concepts of spatial planning that is holistic in making
decisions relating to the location and distribution of land use
activities; it is aimed at the utilization of land resources in a
planed and organized manner to meet the needs of the present
and future generation, thereby ensuring sustainable
development
 There is need for timely and accurate data management of land
based resources in our cities, there is need for SDI to be put in
place to encourage data sharing in our cities.
 There is need for implementation of spatial technologies in
government agencies responsible for environmental
management and city management.
Implications

 A well informed land use decision will enhance
sustainable development.
 Thank You
I.I.C. Nwokoro & S. O. Dekolo,
A Final Word

Land use planning: Panacea a Sustainable Lagos Megacity

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