Urbanisation Case Study: Lagos
Geography: AQA GCSE, topic 4.1.4
Urban Growth in LIDCs: Lagos
Lagos' state government says the population of Lagos is 17.5 million. The national government claims it is 21 million people. Either way, Lagos is a megacity and it is the largest city in Nigeria.
Demographic and healthcare
- The annual rate of natural increase in Nigeria is 25% every 5 years.
- The life expectancy of someone living in Lagos is 54.5 years.
- Across Nigeria as a whole, the average life expectancy is 53.4 years.
- There are more doctors and hospitals in Lagos than in the surrounding rural areas.
Social opportunities from urban growth
- In 2010, the adult literacy rate of people living in Lagos was 92% (92% of people in Lagos can read and write).
- On average, in the rest of Nigeria, adult literacy is 57%.
- In some rural states, the adult literacy rate was as low as 14%.
- Lagos has clean water supplies, electricity, entertainment centres and malls.
Economic opportunities from urban growth
- In 2019, Nigerian startups raised $600 million in investor funding.
- This is 50% of all the startup investment in Africa and most of this funding was negotiated in Nigerian cities.
- 30% of the Nigerian population works in agriculture.
- In 2018, the GDP per capita in Lagos was $5,000 (twice the GDP per capita of Nigeria).
- Lagos is Nigeria's biggest city for banking, investment, and international transactions.
Housing opportunities
- Despite urban growth, housing and food are more expensive in cities than in rural areas.
- Housing is 77% more expensive and food is 26% more expensive in cities.
Challenges of Urban Growth in Lagos
The rapid growth of Lagos has created challenges for the people living there and the local government.
Managing urban growth and slums in Lagos
- In 2016, the World Bank found that 2/3 of people living in Nigeria lived in slums.
- Makoko, Badia, and Agege are some of the largest slums in Lagos.
- Lots of people in the Makoko slum moved to Lagos to earn a living fishing. However, the waters near the slum are full of sewage and fish struggle to live there. These fishermen struggle to get other jobs.
- Many of the children living in the Lagos slums do not go to school.
Crime and unemployment in Lagos
- Unemployed men who live in the Makoko slum create vigilante groups to provide security. These people are called 'Area Boys'.
- Fishermen struggle to catch fish and earn a living.
- Lots of people scavenge for rubbish in the city to try to earn a living.
- Nigeria's murder rate is 9.85 murders per 100,000 people. In the UK it is 1.2 per 100,000 people.
Environmental issues in Lagos
- There are 1 million cars in Lagos and their emissions can contribute to things like acid rain. Traffic is awful in Lagos, public transport is bad and a few key bridges act as bottlenecks for all the cars.
- Smog is a problem in Lagos.
- Air pollution is measured using a metric called PM2.5. A safe level is 56 and in 2016, parts of Lagos had PM2.5 readings of 217. This shows that the air in Lagos is very polluted and could be dangerous to the inhabitants of the city.
- The Olusosun landfill site is the largest dump in Africa. 10,000 tons of rubbish is put in the ground there each day. It gets 3.1 stars on Google Reviews.
Clean water and sanitation in Lagos
- People drink water from the area where fishermen fish and people go to the toilet in the same water. This spreads waterborne diseases like cholera.
- The World Bank has given funding to try to improve the sanitation in the Lagos slums.
- The water in Lagos' lagoon is too polluted to be used as drinking water.
- Between 67% and 81% of people have daily access to clean water in Lagos.
Test yourself on Urbanisation Case Study: Lagos
Roughly what is the population of Lagos?
How much more money do people in Lagos earn relative to the people living elsewhere in Nigeria?
Lagos is a megacity found in Nigeria. What type of country is Nigeria?
What are the social benefits of living in Lagos compared to rural areas in Nigeria?
Name 3 of the largest slums in Lagos.