Reflection Paper
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Inclusive urban design and planning entails one of the most important elements of cities globally. Given the increasing population of urban dwellers, many cities in the world are currently engaged in policies to ensure safer, greener, and dignified living. In the future, a majority of people will be making their living in cities. The politics of inclusiveness to urban design and planning are meant to consider a wider variety of activities and different classes of people in the development process. Strategic urban planning, such as what Eko Atlantic City intends to achieve, purposes on setting high-level objectives and goals. It also intends to determine desired locations for growth and expansion of metropolitan areas and cities. In these ideal projects, inclusiveness means that all people are valued and considered in the planning and development processes, including a consideration of needs and different contributions are made with these goals in mind. However, inclusiveness and the politics therein, do not always consider all people and their needs in the urban design and planning. As a result, there are numerous mega projects within cities that aim to uplift the image of a metropolitan area with an emphasis only on the working and upper classes of the society. For example, Nigeria’s Makoko area is a shanty town that is an embarrassment to every other efforts that the City of Lagos has done as part of its development agenda. According to France 24 English (2013), the slum city lacks running water and electricity, a clear indication of the contrast between the intentions of the planning process compared to the EKO Atlantic City project. The difference in politics with other cities in Brazil’s Curitiba, in Medellin Colombia, and in Bogota is evidenced by Nigeria’s lack of inclusiveness. The consequence is that different cities emerge, some being inclusiveness of every urban dweller and others only looking out to the interests of certain groups.
Packer’s (2006) article about the city of Lagos shed a lot of light on the city, and how imbalanced it is on the basis of its design and planning, with a section of it showcasing the best that Nigeria has to offer, and another side showing the worst of humanity and living. Since then, a lot has changed. A lot of misused and underutilized spaces in the city has now been converted into useful projects, with the intention of transforming the city’s architecture into something resembling an image of a modern metropolitan. With new developments such as what the Eko Atlantic City intends to achieve, Nigeria’s economic hub, Lagos, has transformed tremendously. Even with the presence of Makoko and the problems brought about by slums and shanty towns, Lagos has grown in terms of its population and a notable effort to restore some order in terms of designs. The city has managed to reclaim a lot of idle land and even moved in to restore lost beaches due to erosion.
As Lagos develops, one of the most important lessons that need to be learned from other cities such as Curitiba, Medellin, and Bogota is that real estate development targeting rich members of a society is not the only way to develop. Curitiba, for example, has attained notable growth and development by using green and inclusive political motives. Pollution is one of the most notable impediments to growth in an up and coming megacity. Therefore, by addressing issues of pollution, waste management, and a green strategy to run a city, half of the problems that Lagos is currently facing would be eliminated. Another major issue is a focus on inclusive development policies. In Bogota, building a sustainable city has helped to transform one of the most violent and crime-laden cities in the world to achieve order and civic-minded urban planning. Lagos must begin to focus on a more strategic and sustainable plan away from real estate development to include better public transportation, greenways, introduction of urban settlements that cater to the less privileged and other tailor-made approaches to address the problems unique to Lagos. In short, Lagos city must begin to look inwards in terms of the politics of inclusiveness and how better consideration of the populations in the city must be factored in within the city’s design and planning.
A focus on increasing the input from stakeholders and citizen-scientists would make a huge difference. Policies made at the political level are biased and may focus on only addressing issues affecting only one or a few groups of city dwellers. However, including output from other stakeholders such as citizen-scientists would help city planners and designers to look at issues from a different perspective, and to customize solutions in a way that addresses the problem. In Medellin, input from major stakeholders has helped to transform the city by almost completely eliminating slums and the problems within informal communities. A major advantage of using input from stakeholders and citizen-scientists is that there will be more involvement in the implementation of the expected changes. Sustainable urban life in Curitiba was achieved through involvement from different stakeholder groups, especially those that are directly affected by the changes proposed and implemented. Therefore, Lagos stands to benefit more by increasing the input from stakeholders and citizen-scientists.
Megacities of the Global South can stop from becoming many Makokos by adopting inclusive and sustainable policies in the urban planning and design. An inclusive urban plan and design would mean that the interests of every group in the population is considered, including settlement, public transport, access to safe drinking water, and rules and regulations relating to how and where to create settlements. Makoko lacks a formal plan and design regarding its future. The lawlessness and failure to observe any formal plans by the local authorities have led to more problems and increased wastage of space. The area is completely overlooked and any efforts to restore some order do not involve the local communities and fishermen making a livelihood there. As a consequence, the area remains to be a shanty development, one that portrays a poor picture of the Megacity of Lagos. The Global South must continue with the sustainability agenda, watching the effect of policies to the environment, implementing inclusive ideas, and transforming the livelihood of all city dwellers through taking input from all stakeholders.
References
Packer, G. (Nov 5, 2006). The Megacity: Decoding the chaos of Lagos. The New Yorker. Available at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/11/13/the-megacityFrance 24 English. (Sep 2, 2013). Nigeria: Makoko, the shanty town on the lagoon. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfjXgUqux_IGreen Growth. (Sep 20, 2013). Bogota, Building a Sustainable City | PBS Design e2. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZE3ClCA1m4rtaylorsmith. (Feb 26, 2014). Sustainable Development in Brazil? YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4sumpEqnlYJourneyman Pictures. (Sep 9, 2016). The World’s Greenest City (2014). YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV8Fcta4bNEQuartz. (Sep 25, 2018). Future of Cities: Medellin, Colombia solves city slums. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqsMuC7X2kEBeing Nigerian. (Oct 22, 2018). Eko Atlantic City | Dubai of Africa | Visit Nigeria | Being Nigerian. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJr3WI5cF7U
