The challenge of making land titles economically viable has been identified as a major predicament towards building a resilience Lagos for the future as the state continues to make strides to live up to its status as a mega city.
Paul Collier, keynote speaker at the 14th Centre for Value in Leadership (CVL) Annual Lecture/International Leadership Symposium with the theme ‘Living Well Together, Tomorrow: The Challenge of Africa’s Future Cities’ held recently at the Muson Centre, Lagos, said the way people acquire land in a city is key to the level of development the city attains.
According to the professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, and Director, Centre for African Economics Oxford University, “land ownership must be secured and legally enforceable in order for us to build a city for the future.”
Collier said land titles should be a viable step that allows ownership of land to function as collateral and marketable. According to him, as a city grow in population, land usage will change and therefore the ability to sell such land comes into question.
Taibat Lawanson of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Lagos, said inclusive development is crucial to achieving the Lagos mega city plan.
Lawanson, who was among the panelists at the Symposium, is of the view that a paradigm shift is needed in the development effort of Lagos State as it must build and provide services for the people of the now even as it builds for the future acceptable open spaces in Lagos.
According to her, “Lagos is on the coast and therefore, we should be talking more of environmental vulnerability, flood vulnerability, and climate change challenges. “If we are building cities of the future, let’s look at it from a holistic paradigm, economic development is good, but sustainable development, economic development and environment sustainability are needed to achieve a mega city.”
The CVL annual lecture and 2017 programme focused on many aspects of the city of the future: planning, environment and governance issues derived from how it can be beneficial to the people.
Over the years, urban planners have experimented different models and concepts, from mega cities, to satellite cities and legacy cities. Yet, they are faced with the challenge of how to make cities habitable and accommodating for all.
