Lagos

In a series of discussion papers, partners of the Heinrich Böll Foundation give thought-provoking suggestions to the Lagos State government for an inclusive and climate-resilient city building, which are based on the findings from our research “Urban Planning Processes in Lagos”.

Innovation, creativity and financial power – Lagos has all the necessary ingredients for a thriving startup sector. Hackathons, boot camps and startup weeks regularly attract local and international participants. Ayodeji Rotinwa, a freelance journalist, asks himself whether these are signs for a healthy growth potential.

Kelechi Udegbe, a budding Nigerian actor in the city of Lagos, features in this 6 part documentary drama series where he weighs his option 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.

A modern city is a centre of opportunities for all – rich and poor – to reach their highest potentials, that is governed in an inclusive, collaborative and sustainable manner. Prof. Taibat Lawanson from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Dr. Ademola Omoegun from the Department of Architecture, University of Lagos aimed at understanding how affected people cope with the effects of government interventions for replacing informality with formal structures and how Lagos fares in embracing creative and innovative strategies of inclusive development initiated and implemented by the affected people.

A synthesis of the gains, losses and opportunities from the city’s privatisation of the waste management sector

Lagos State government increasingly ventures into Public Private Partnerships to provide infrastructure in forms of roads, waste management, water supply; even complete residential and commercial “city” projects are outsourced. A very controversial development is the rebuilding of open markets by private developers disrupting decade old economic and social patterns in the informal sector

Versage is an exploration of low-end globalization and global inequality; contemporary Nigerian fashion and the people behind it; the notion of cheapness; the complexity of the concept of "Made in China"; the creolization of taste; and when mimicry becomes its own aesthetic. See how Versage trade is working on the streets of Lagos