Fair Shared City: Lagos. Feminist city planning from the micro-level

Lagos, Nigeria

Position statement

Picture © hbs Abuja/ FABULOUS URBAN

Architects: FABULOUS URBAN

Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Year: 2022
Client: Heinrich Böll Stiftung Abuja
Researchers: Abimbola Abikoye, Ebere Akwuebu, Modupe Darabidan, Fabienne Hoelzel, Damilola Odekunle, Damilola Oluwo, Boluwatife Soremi
Editors: Fabienne Hoelzel, Monika Umunna

This position statement advocates for a normative-practical approach in urban planning.

The field research and its conclusions demonstrate that women in Lagos have proven their ability to provide for themselves and their communities, as basic as this might be. Informal and government institutions could be available to assist them in making their responses more effective. Unfortunately, however, the new policies and approaches gradually being introduced by the city government have so far not carried along those who are most in need of such policies. The question is how to connect the different dots so that pragmatic and cost-effective solutions enable vulnerable women to participate fully and take decisions for themselves.