Celebrating ten years linking Research to Action for
Sustainable, Inclusive, Resilient, Safe and Prosperous Cities & Communities
Unlocking the Potential of Lagos
A Transformation towards a Smart, Sustainable, Inclusive, Resilient and Prosperous City
The city of Lagos is among the four the African cities covered in this book, a smart city is viewed as a sustainable, inclusive and prosperous city that promotes a people-centric approach based on three core components - Smart City Foundation, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Smart Institutions and Laws. These three core components are the pillars of the seven dimensions of a smart city: Infrastructure Development, Environmental Sustainability, Social Development, Social Inclusion, Disasters Exposure, Resilience, and Peace and Security. The collective of these components and dimensions determine a Smart City Economy.Read more
The Lagos's case study is based on two chapters:
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Smart City Foundation for Smart Economy
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Smart Infrastructure Developments for Smart Economy
Smart City Foundation for Smart Economy
EMERGING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES PROVIDED BY SMART CITY LAGOS
Despite the potentials of Lagos to be a sustainable, inclusive and prosperous city, Lagos smartness has been hampered by its weak city foundation. The city is not well planned with sufficient land allocated to streets and public spaces, and it lacks smart basic infrastructure and smart institutions and laws. Many settlements in the city lack a sewerage system and rainwater drainage facilities, and adequate waste management sites are missing, which are key components of smart basic infrastructure along with connection to water and energy. Flooding during rainy seasons as well as uncollected garbage is a frequent phenomenon in most parts of the city particularly in the poor settlements. Frequent energy shortages also affect the city’s economy. These challenges are associated with poor land administration and governance, characterized by lack of transparency and corruption. Faced with continued slum proliferation associated with weak city foundation, the Government of Lagos State is developing various urban development programmes and projects that if adequately implemented will contribute to the smartness of Lagos as a city of the 21st century, a city that will be sustainable, inclusive and prosperous. Read more.
Smart Infrastructure Developments for Smart Economy
Opportunities provided by smart city Lagos
The opportunities provided by the efforts in making Lagos a smart economy can be seen in notable areas of development. The smart city initiative has provided opportunities through the development of institutional framework for effective service delivery, promoting participatory governance, establishing structures for effective resource mobilization, transparency and accountability. This is largely noticeable in the area of collection of revenue. Also the smart economic development drive has assisted the state in its fiscal planning and projection. The use of ICT for planning is another key area. The state has made the use of ICT for monitoring and evaluation of projects. This has arguably made Lagos state the best statistical documentation and geographic information systems in Nigeria to resolve complexities of land use and to aid in day-to-day decision making. Read more.
