title: Enclave Urbanism and Infrastructure Outcomes: The Eko Atlantic City and Urban Sustainability Issues in Lagos, Nigeria
Creators: name: Titilayo, Jammie
Publisher: name: UNSPECIFIED
Year: 2023

description: Over the last few decades, cities in Sub-Saharan Africa have experienced a rise in the construction of residential enclaves in response to urban issues such as infrastructure deficit, insecurity, population surge or a combination of all. These enclaves are in most cases characterized by a self-sustaining, independently planned infrastructure and settlement patterns. They are (in some cases) planned to match urban conditions in cities of the global North; thus, representing an urban ideal that is very distant from the conditions in existing towns and cities in the global South. Lagos is Sub-Sahara Africa’s fastest-growing city and has, alongside its surging population, witnessed the emergence of premium residential enclaves such as Victoria Garden City and Banana Island. This research aims to contribute to the debates on enclave urbanism in Sub-Saharan Africa by examining physical planning implications and the urban sustainability issues of seemingly disjointed infrastructure provision and management across residential enclaves. The theoretical framework is premised on a context-specific approach which adapts knowledge established from the lens of geographical characteristics and urban peculiarities. The study examines enclave urbanism and infrastructure outcomes in Lagos, Nigeria through the characterisation of existing case study enclaves and in-depth analyses of the Eko Atlantic City (EAC) to establish the urban sustainability of Lagos. The focus is on the assessment of infrastructure provision, management outcomes, socio-economic cost and the implications of urban enclaves on physical planning and the attainment of sustainable urban development in urban Lagos. The study adopts a qualitative methodology and primary data collection through semi-structured interviews with urban planners, representatives of the physical planning ministry, residents and developers/managers in four case study premium enclaves and the EAC. Secondary data from (online) archives and websites of agencies and institutions are also utilised during analyses. The data analysis is done using MAXQDA which, in turn, produces dominant themes from thematic analysis under four categories according to the research objectives. Findings from empirical analyses establish that existing enclaves in Lagos adopt different management structures that are, by and large, sustained by the self-provisioning of infrastructure services through residents’ funds. Despite efforts toward self-sufficiency, Lagos’ enclaves still rely on the central infrastructure network of the larger metropolis, resulting in a complex infrastructure arrangement. Infrastructure service accessibility is subtly determined by financial ability and or willingness to afford premium service. The EAC represents an advanced shift in urban enclaving in Lagos through its urban development aspiration of a world-class financial smart city with an independent infrastructure designed and built under a neoliberal arrangement. The emerging city further consolidates urban enclaving in Lagos, raising issues of worsening sociophysical disparities. Also, the willingness of urban elites to provide their infrastructure may have resulted in the government’s reluctance and slow pace of infrastructure provision in Lagos, thus inadvertently ignoring a large share of the population residing outside enclaves.