Inclusive Cities Making

The Inclusive Cities Making program works with communities to improve access to basic municipal services and infrastructure for poor urban populations. Using participatory research, debates, and hands-on problem-solving, the program aims to ensure that local voices help shape practical solutions to everyday challenges. Our key focus areas include developing flood-resistant and affordable housing, expanding reliable access to clean water and sanitation, and supporting the integration of the informal sector in sustainable waste management systems.

All articles Megacity Lagos

Publications

Moving Lagos – The Blue Metro Line

Public transport in Lagos is characterised by informal minibuses and the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system, a public-private partnership introduced in 2008. As an answer to the increasing pressure on the city’s limited space for road transport, Lagos State Government opened the first line of a metro rail system in September 2023 as a new era of mass passenger transport. This study examines whether the “Blue Line” has been able to realise government’s promise of a cost-effective and sustainable means of transport.

Cities in Transition

Publication

Over 60 per cent of Nigeria’s 4.5 million IDPs live in cities, not camps, yet remain invisible in policy and the government's planning. This publication explores displacement urbanisation and the urgency of inclusive policy reform in Nigeria.

Roberts, R.E., Lawanson, T., Misselwitz, P.

Flaneuse - Envisioning a City for All

Publication

This Publication, commissioned by HBS Abuja office and actualized by Lagos Urban Development Initiatives, seeks to encourage readers to drive a public conversation about the potential of ignored citizens from all spheres, to re-imagine their city, and to effect equitable changes that will be inclusive and benefit of all.

Patterns of Decision Making in Urban Local Governance

The paper gives an overview of the challenges of local governance in Nigerian cities and recommendations towards better urban futures.

Local Governance Strategies of Otumara Community in Lagos to Access Water

This report analyses the provision of urban services in the low-income community of Otumara, Lagos, with a focus on water supply, examining the relevant actors, actor constellations and modes of interaction.

Community Development Associations in Low Income and Informal Communities in Nigeria

The paper explains how Community Development Associations (CDAs) could fill the vacuum in local urban governance created by the dysfunctionality of the third tiers of government in Nigeria, the local governments.

Video

Kelechi's Quest: A Docu-Drama Series

Kelechi Udegbe, a budding Nigerian actor in the city of Lagos, features in this 6 part documentary drama series where he weighs his options of finding a suitable accommodation within his budget, thereby sparking a debate about new ways of accessing affordable accommodation and about the equitability of housing policies of Lagos State.

Watch the Series

Inclusive Cities Making

The Road to a “Fair-Shared” Lagos

YANME TV - Telling Stories of Our Everyday Lives

Dispossess: Evictions for Development?

In Lagos, the Masks are Gone and so is Trust in Government

Urban Planning Processes in Lagos: The Ways Forward

Is the Lagos Tech Sector a Bubble?

Cities in Transition

Flaneuse - Envisioning a City for All

Patterns of Decision Making in Urban Local Governance

Local Governance Strategies of Otumara Community in Lagos to Access Water

Community Development Associations in Low Income and Informal Communities in Nigeria