Urban Renewal Group 12
Urban Renewal Group 12
Urban Renewal Group 12
apartments as
an urban
renewal
strategy for
mass housing
in Lagos:
Lessons from
other
countries
(ARC845) Urban
Renewal
Lecturers; Dr. Iweka, Prof.
Okedele
GROUP 12
Osuala Daniel .U.
Aiyejusunle Enioluwa .O.
139051006 (G.L)
100501009
139051010
Adegoke Oluwatobi A.
090501006
Nduka-Dike Eberechi
139051019
1. Definitional Issues
What is Urban renewal?
Somewhere in an area near you, scanty rundown areas have been given a new lease of life; this is
called Urban Renewal.
Urban renewal according to the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, is a program of land
redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. It started in the early 90s and
has played an important role in the city scape of major developed countries around the world.
Urban renewal involves the relocation of businesses, the demolition of structures, the relocation
of people, and the use of eminent domain (government purchase of property for public purpose)
as a legal instrument to take private property for city-initiated development projects. This process
is also carried out in rural areas, referred to as village renewal, though it may not be exactly the
same in practice.1
Chigbu, Uchendu Eugene (2012). "Village renewal as an instrument of rural development: evidence from Weyarn, Germany"
(http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcod20/current). Community Development 43 (2): 209224.doi:10.1080/15575330.2011.575231
(https://dx.doi.org/10.1080%2F15575330.2011.575231)
Olawepo, R.A. (2010); Perspectives on Urban Renewal and Transportation Development in Lagos: Implications for Urban Development in
Nigeria, (Pg 273-287) : African Research Review, Vol. 4 (1) January, 2010, ISSN 2070-0083 (Online)
Redevelopment: This consists of the removal of existing buildings and the re-use of cleared land
for the implementation of new projects. Redevelopment leads to the destruction of badly needed
housing units and it does not prevent slums from reappearing in other parts of the city. It also
contributes to the impoverishment of the original residents by reduction of job opportunities, as
resettlement areas are usually located outside of the city proper (Mirbod, 1984). This approach is
applicable to areas in which buildings are in seriously deteriorated condition and have no
preservation value, or in which the arrangement of buildings are such that the area cannot
provide satisfactory living conditions. In such cases, demolition and reconstruction, of whole
blocks or of small sections, is often thought to be the only solution to ensure future comfort and
safety of the residents.
Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation, often termed conservation or preservation, is based on
preserving, repairing, and restoring the natural and man-made environments of existing
neighborhoods. It is applicable to areas where buildings are generally in structurally sound
condition but have deteriorated because of neglected maintenance. It takes advantage of the
existing housing stock as a valuable resource and adapts old houses to present day life and
acceptable standards by providing modern facilities (Zhu, 1989).
Rehabilitation recognizes that the limited availability of funds for new construction and the
serious housing shortage make the option of destroying already-existing housing appear both
unaffordable and imprudent. It recognizes the value of old neighborhoods and, by preserving
what is unique, ancient, and specifically local, it can also contribute to the development of the
tourism, industry and stimulate the economy.3
Njoku C. and Okoro G.C. (2014), Urban renewal in Nigeria: case study of Lagos state, Journal of Environmental Science and Water
Resources ISSN 2277 0704, Vol. 3(7), pp. 145 - 148, August 2014
However, many people do not consider rehabilitation to be a realistic approach because of the
technical difficulties and the amount of work and research involved. Rehabilitation is often
perceived as a complex and time-consuming process which is more difficult to implement than
redevelopment. It requires a high degree of social organization and social responsibility, as well
as a total reorganization of the housing process.
Integration: The method of urban renewal referred to as integration, views rehabilitation and
redevelopment as complementary forces and combines the best aspects of both approaches. It
consists of rehabilitation of what can realistically be saved, combined with reconstruction of new
buildings in place of those beyond the reach of feasible rehabilitation (Yu, 1988).
Integration is considered today to be the most acceptable way to regenerate old neighborhoods. It
allows for flexible project implementation which can preserve the traditional urban environment
and its human scale while achieving respectable densities.
Source: Journal of Environmental Science and Water Resources, Urban renewal in Nigeria: case study of Lagos
state, August 2014
commensurate level. This has resulted in acute shortage of housing to the teeming population
with Lagos alone accounting for about 5 million deficit representing 31% of the estimated
national housing deficit of 18 million [Oshodi, 2010]. The extent of the housing shortage in
Lagos is enormous. The inadequacies are far reaching and the deficit is both quantitative and
qualitative. According to the Lagos Household Survey (2011), about 72% of Lagos residents are
tenants paying rent as high 50% of their monthly incomes; while most of the existing
accommodations are provided by private landlords. Only 18% owned the dwellings while 10%
are free occupants, with no rental payment.
In recent times, the Ministry of Housing and the Lagos Building and Investment Company
(LBIC) commenced direct construction of houses in Lagos State. From Year 2000 till date, the
various agencies in the housing sector had constructed 7,850 housing units. This is however a
short fall from the projection of 224,000 housing units annually by the Ministry of
Housing.6Aside the direct construction approach, Ministry of housing and other government
agencies adopted other options of delivering houses to the citizens, among which are public/
private partnership in housing delivery, urban renewal and establishment of new towns, provision
of site and service schemes. The combined stock of all these strategies is less than 5,000 units per
annum in a state requiring 500,000 units per annum to bridge the deficit of estimated2.55 million
over the next 5 years. Even, the recently launched Lagos Cooperative Home Ownership
Incentive Scheme (Lagos- CHOIS), in collaboration with the private sector, is expected to
deliver 10,000 units over the next four years at the rate of N11.6 million for a two bedroom
apartment.7
6
During the Military regimes, there were no less than five urban renewal projects especially
between 1972 and 1975. These were the era of construction of fly-overs and overhead bridges
to make ways for new roads and transportation development. The process of slum clearance
continued till 1979. Also the Olaleye-Iponri scheme was unique with the involvement of
collaborative efforts between the Lagos State Government and the United Nations Centre for
Human Settlements (Habitat). The scheme also introduced new methods of consultation and
community participation. Its approach was basically that of rehabilitation. It was also prepared as
part of the Lagos Master Plan in 1980 with an implementation phase commencing between
1982-84. As at 1990, the clearance of Maroko was affected and the inhabitants were resettled at
Ilasan and Epe locations who came from outside Lagos.
3. Assessment
High-rise apartments as a means towards urban renewal Lessons from
other countries
If Lagos is to attain the status of model mega city, it is obvious that it has to tackle a number of
challenges. Notably is the issue of overcrowding. According to EIU policy brief issue 1
December 2012, the new Eko Atlantic tends to solve but only a fraction of the problem, expected
to provide accommodation for 250,000 people (approximately 100,000 housing units) and
employment opportunities for a further 150,000. However, it focuses primarily on the high
earning class of the society.
A study was carried out to find out which housing type was preferred by most Lagosians and
below is a table showing the results;
Preferred homes across Lagos LGAs
LGA
Agege
Ajerom
iIfelodu
n
Alimos
ho
Amuwo
Odofin
Apapa
Badagr
y
Epe
Eti-Osa
IbejuLe
kki
IfakoIjaye
Ikeja
Ikorodu
Kosofe
1-2
beds
70,420
112,410
2-3
beds
73,416
85,348
4+
beds
4,495
10,408
142,506
139,537
14,844
29,694
43,399
4,568
43,185
31,449
28,032
20,966
4,546
2,759
28,163
81,306
8,229
15,959
58,484
4,620
2,816
2,853
2,021
64,771
38,863
3,239
48,925
51,966
75,908
40,457
42,972
55,576
4,704
4,997
4,067
Lagos
Island
Lagos
Mainla
nd
Mushin
Ojo
OshodiIsolo
Shomol
u
Suruler
e
57,365
61,107
7,482
38,344
44,734
6,391
93,916
53,256
88,856
88,166
71,007
65,819
11,500
12,290
11,518
83,259
59,471
5,947
105,351
73,930
7,193
From the table above, it is clear that a good number of the population prefer 1-2 bedroom
apartments. This is a clear indication that the provision of 1-2 bedroom high-rise apartments will
not only be economically viable and a very good urban renewal strategy, but also a means of
providing for the people what they truly want.
The housing needs survey suggest that 95% of the projected housing needs in Lagos over the
next 5 years can be met in apartment type housing developments. This house types could be built
efficiently cost effectively using modern methods of construction. Indeed the government can
benefit from good practice in places like Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Bangkok, China; and
emerging developments like Addis Ababa and Nairobi, where high density, high-rise housing
complexes are successfully meeting the housing needs without significant pressures on land
supply.
A good comparative example is the Gorbals in Glasgow. Early history of the Gorbals in Glasgow
showed that industrial revolution changed the character of the area; a grid layout of four storey
tenements grew up through the 1900s to house local factory and cotton mill workers. By the
1930s, it had a large population and lots of small shops and pubs. Overcrowding and poor
maintenance led to the area becoming run-down.
Conditions in the Gorbals include; overcrowding, poverty stricken, crime ridden, filthy and
damn, many shared an outside toilet, high unemployment, very poor standard of healthcare and
education.
After demolition, new high rise flats were built in place of old tenements. Residents were moved
out to purpose built estates on the outskirts of the city for example castle milk. Existing buildings
were renovated, tenements were modernized- sandblasted, new windows, central heating and
bathrooms.
Advantages these had was that the new apartments/flats had heating, indoor bathrooms and were
warm and dry, however the disadvantage was that community life was destroyed, people felt
isolated often leading to depression.
After recognising the mistakes of the 1960s, more traditional streets have been created along
with more open spaces.
Severe unemployment is being tackled through the Gorbals Initiative; a local enterprise company
which provides access for local people to nearby job opportunities and stimulates the local
economy. All in all, great efforts have been made to make the Gorbals a vibrant, thriving
community.
The case of high-rise residential buildings (other than luxury apartment complexes) in which
apartments are privately owned is relatively rare in Western Europe. Raze-and-rebuild projects in
other countries are regarded primarily as a means to upgrade and improve the quality of public
housing and are considered from that perspective. In Israel, the percentage of public housing
apartments in urban renewal projects is very low. Most of the apartments are privately owned,
and therefore the improvement of public housing is not considered at all.
The rehousing program in places like Khayelitsha, South Africa is complicated by other factors.
For the vast majority of residents, the only acceptable housing is a detached hut on a privately
owned lot. Multifamily rental housing is seen as a despised relic of apartheid, and mid- or highrise apartments are anathema to these recently rural denizens. Government rental housing is
being phased out as it is converted to private ownership. Most residents are waiting their turn to
secure an individual lot where they can use their 17,900 rand (US$2,400) housing subsidy
toward building the standard-issue, 36-square meter, cinder block hut. With enough hands, a hut
can be erected in a weekend.9
Also, in other countries, debates and policies about housing affordability and the need to provide
more affordable housing are widespread throughout the international housing literature. In recent
years, too, governments in many countries have explored ways of using statutory land-use
planning systems to influence the provision of additional affordable housing, especially in
localities with relatively high house prices and rental costs (Paris 2007, p1).10
In Europe and America, transformations have contributed to an increasing urban identity crisis
which transformed cities into heterogenous. The mutation in interpersonal relationships and
intergenerational gaps, technological development, mass migrations and globalization have
transformed to spaces in the urban landscape; new types of place have and the utilization of
existing spaces has been modified (Sepe, 2006; Gospodini, 2002, 2004). Take Sydney for
instance there is substantial evidence of a growing housing affordability problem in Sydney as
well as across Australia. The incidence of the problem has spread from very low-income through
low-income into moderate-income households. There is now a consistent call for housing
9 Lincoln Institute of Land policy (2003), Urban Renewal in a South African Township, Vol. 15, No 4
10 Urban Research Centre University of Western Sydney (2008), Housing Affordability Literature Review and Affordable
Housing Program Audit
schemes to retain key workers and the working poor in established areas to ensure access to
employment, education, public transport and other facilities and amenities.
Yet, while it is widely accepted that there are affordability problems in Sydney, and across
Australia, it is difficult to arrive at a universally accepted definition of affordability, or of a
threshold beyond which housing is not affordable. The 30/40 rule is currently the most widely
used criteria for affordability. This refers to the point at which 30 per cent of the gross income of
a household in the lowest 40 per cent of the income distribution is allocated to housing costs;
beyond this, housing is deemed unaffordable. Like all general measures, however, the 30/40 rule
can be blind to variations across household forms and sizes regarding their capacity to meet other
living costs after housing costs are met. Despite various attempts to incorporate variable
household living costs into calculations of housing affordability, the 30/40 rule remains the most
readily useable and comparable affordability benchmark.
Also, in other countries, debates and policies about housing affordability and the need to provide
more affordable housing are widespread throughout the international housing literature. In recent
years, too, governments in many countries have explored ways of using statutory land-use
planning systems to influence the provision of additional affordable housing, especially in
localities with relatively high house prices and rental costs (Paris 2007, p1).11
In Europe and America, transformations have contributed to an increasing urban identity crisis
which transformed cities into heterogenous. The mutation in interpersonal relationships and
intergenerational gaps, technological development, mass migrations and globalization have
transformed to spaces in the urban landscape; new types of place have and the utilization of
existing spaces has been modified (Sepe, 2006; Gospodini, 2002, 2004). Take Sydney for
11 Urban Research Centre University of Western Sydney (2008), Housing Affordability Literature Review and Affordable
Housing Program Audit
Frank Wassenberg
Like in so many other European countries, the large housing estates of the postWorld War II generation in the Netherlands did not fulfil the great and often
Utopian expectations. Nowadays they are confronted with the effects of a
negative image, a stigma. Images differ according to the persons asked for an
opinion. Internal images, elicited from insiders, may overlap with external images
but may also contradict them. The external image of many large estates
accelerates their decay and lowers their reputation. All across Europe stigmatised
large housing estates are subject to major renewal processes. The Amsterdam
high-rise area of the Bijlmermeer is a good example. Once cheered by planners
and politicians, later on criticised by inhabitants, avoided by outsiders and
stigmatised by the media, the area is now an example of an impressive renewal
programme. The question arises whether urban renewal will change a negative
reputation. A stigma tends to stick, even after actual renewal activities are
finished. Images of neighbourhoods can actively be promoted, just like a
commercial product. Image promotion can be a supplementary strategy, which is
seldom used in renewal processes. Which strategy would be the best depends on
local circumstances, but strategies should be aimed at improving existing internal
and external images. Image promotion may be directed to internal participants, to
convince them the situation really is improving, or to outsiders, to promote the
area and to counterbalance prejudices. Image promotion should not take the
place of real improvements, but it is useful to work on a stigma and to give active
image promotion explicit attention in any renewal process.
than 3% of its income for housing. The rents charged by the government for housing were,
therefore, so low that they were not even enough to pay for housing maintenance. After
economic and housing reforms were launched in 1979, market-based housing was
introduced and various credits and other subsidies were extended to households to access
housing. At present, about 80% of public housing in China has been sold to residents
through the market and about 94% of urban residents own some form of private housing.
For households who could not afford market housing, housing subsidies are provided by
the government to avail of rental housing. Availability of land for affordable housing in
locations accessible to work places of lowincome households is a challenge in many
countries. Even though the policy incentivizes private developers to use private land for
(affordable) housing projects, the role of government in guiding the development of land
for residential developments through land consolidation/pooling and provision of trunk
infrastructure and services toward orderly urban expansion needs to be stressed. Land
(re)adjustments and planned development of trunk infrastructure, including public transit,
and financial incentives for affordable housing are some of the common threads in the
housing policies implemented in developed countries. While high-density vertical
development of housing is common, in particular for central business districts (CBDs),
some countries followed low-rise, high-density development models (Japan, Vietnam). A
major advantage of the latter model is that it allows incremental housing improvements
based on the economic constraints and housing needs of families.
Repercussions
Inadequate urban housing supply coupled with increasing demand for housing in many
developing countries propels the formation of slum (Durand- Lasserve, 1996). This situation has
relegated many city dwellers to slums due to inadequate low cost and decent housing provision.
A study by Durand-Lasserve (1996) in Zambia revealed that the slums of Lusaka owe their
origins to the city authorities neglect of providing low-cost public housing and concentration on
short-sighted and unsustainable urban and housing policies, both during colonial and postindependence times. Moreover, the absence of sufficient public housing caused a series of
housing crises and an increased growth of unauthorized settlements in the urban areas.
4. Conclusion
The main component of housing delivery is availability of land resources. Urbanization in
Nigeria has resulted in limited accessibility to land and thus compound the problems of housing
provision that urban and regional planning is aiming to solve. The continuity and dynamism of
land value make its classification as a process inappropriate. Land value thus arises when
comparatively increasing number of people jostles for land in urban centres as against the rural
areas.
Cities are the main focus of land problems and the threshold population for their classification
varies from one country to another and over time, even within the same country. More critical
than population is the function metropolitan area performs. One of the distinguishing
characteristics of a metropolitan area is that its work is largely divorced from soil, that is, its
people are dominantly not primary food producers.
High-rise is without doubt a good and viable strategy for urban renewal. However, the main
question it poses is in terms of affordability. Having in mind that more than half of the
population of Lagos live below the poverty line standards, the real question is will the target
population for these high rise apartments be able to afford these commodities?. This question can
be addressed only through the implementations of programmmes and policies that are target
focused towards the low and medium income earners of the population by the government and
statutory bodies.
References
1984.
Njoku C. and Okoro G.C: (2014), Urban renewal in Nigeria: case study of Lagos
state, Journal of Environmental Science and Water Resources ISSN 2277 0704, Vol.
3(7), pp. 145 - 148, August 2014
Osuide, S. O., (2004). Strategies for Affordable Housing Stock Delivery in Nigeria,
18th Inaugural Lecture of Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma. Benin City: Floreat Systems,
P. 15.
Peiser, R. (1987): The Determinants of Nonresidential Urban Land Value. Journal of
Xiaoxi Hui (2013): Housing, Urban Renewal and Socio-Spatial Integration - A Study
on Rehabilitating the Former Socialistic Public Housing Areas in Beijing, Rotterdam:
Architecture and the built environment, vol. 2.
Frank Wassenberg 2004-09: Renewing stigmatised estates in the Netherlands: A framework for
image renewal strategies Journal of Housing and the Built Environment
Volume 19, Issue 3 , pp 271-292