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Planning, Anti-planning and the Infrastructure Crisis Facing Metropolitan Lagos

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  • Matthew Gandy

    (Department of Geography, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1 0AP, UK. m.gandy@ucl.ac.uk)

Abstract

Many of the 'mega cities' of the global South face an escalating crisis in the adequate provision of basic services such as water, housing and mass transit systems. Lagos-the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa-exemplifies many of these challenges but has tended to be viewed within a narrow analytical frame. In this essay, 'exceptionalist' perspectives on the African city are eschewed in favour of an analysis which frames the experience of Lagos within a wider geopolitical arena of economic instability, petro-capitalist development and regional internecine strife. An historical perspective is developed in order to reveal how structural factors operating through both the colonial and post-colonial periods have militated against any effective resolution to the city's worsening infrastructure crisis. It is concluded that a workable conception of the public realm must form an integral element in any tentative steps towards more progressive approaches to urban policy-making in the post-Abacha era and the return to civilian rule.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Gandy, 2006. "Planning, Anti-planning and the Infrastructure Crisis Facing Metropolitan Lagos," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 43(2), pages 371-396, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:43:y:2006:i:2:p:371-396
    DOI: 10.1080/00420980500406751
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Matthew Gandy, 2005. "Cyborg Urbanization: Complexity and Monstrosity in the Contemporary City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 26-49, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. John Friedmann, 2007. "Forum 2007," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 38(6), pages 987-998, November.
    2. Laurent Fourchard, 2011. "Lagos, Koolhaas and Partisan Politics in Nigeria," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 40-56, January.
    3. Gabriella Y. Carolini, 2017. "Sisyphean Dilemmas of Development: Contrasting Urban Infrastructure and Fiscal Policy Trends in Maputo, Mozambique," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 126-144, January.
    4. Eduardo Ascensão, 2015. "The Slum Multiple: A Cyborg Micro-history of an Informal Settlement in Lisbon," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 948-964, September.
    5. Jochen Monstadt & Sophie Schramm, 2017. "Toward The Networked City? Translating Technological ideals and Planning Models in Water and Sanitation Systems in Dar es Salaam," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 104-125, January.
    6. COLIN McFARLANE & JONATHAN RUTHERFORD, 2008. "Political Infrastructures: Governing and Experiencing the Fabric of the City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 363-374, June.
    7. COLIN McFARLANE, 2008. "Governing the Contaminated City: Infrastructure and Sanitation in Colonial and Post‐Colonial Bombay," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 415-435, June.
    8. Bj⊘rn Sletto & Anja Nygren, 2015. "Unsettling Neoliberal Rationalities: Engaged Ethnography and the Meanings of Responsibility in the Dominican Republic and Mexico," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 965-983, September.
    9. Idalina Baptista, 2015. "‘We Live on Estimates': Everyday Practices of Prepaid Electricity and the Urban Condition in Maputo, Mozambique," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 1004-1019, September.
    10. Laura Cesafsky, 2017. "How to Mend a Fragmented City: a Critique of ‘Infrastructural Solidarity'," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 145-161, January.

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