Contemporary Challenges in LIDC and EDC Cities

Lagos: growth puts pressure on daily life

Lagos, in Nigeria, provides a case study of contemporary urban challenges in an emerging and developing country. Its rapid population growth has increased demand for housing, jobs, water and waste collection. When these needs grow faster than infrastructure and services can expand, residents face difficulties meeting basic needs.

These challenges are connected, but they do not affect everyone equally. Households with low or insecure incomes find it particularly difficult to afford suitable housing, safe water and healthcare. Makoko, an informal settlement extending from the mainland into Lagos Lagoon, shows how several pressures can combine in one neighbourhood.

Informal settlements: shelter without reliable services

An informal settlement develops outside formal planning systems, often with insecure land rights and limited services. A squatter settlement specifically involves occupying land without legal permission. These settlements provide shelter for people who cannot obtain affordable formal housing, but their locations and lack of infrastructure can create serious risks.

Estimates suggest that over 60% of Lagos’s population lives in informal settlements. Some occupy unfavourable land, including swampy areas and the lagoon. In Makoko, many homes stand on wooden stilts over the water. This allows people to live in a water-bound setting, but does not remove the challenges of flooding, sanitation or access to services.

Housing is also crowded: around 75% of Makoko households are reported to live in one room. Unplanned growth makes it difficult to extend water supplies, drainage, electricity and other services. Residents also face insecurity over their homes because the waterfront is attractive for redevelopment aimed at wealthier residents and businesses.

Informal work: an income, but little security

The informal sector includes work outside formal employment and regulatory systems. Around 60% of people in Lagos are estimated to work in informal jobs, including street selling, dock work and recovering materials from rubbish dumps.

Such work is an important source of income where formal employment is difficult to obtain. However, it often involves low pay, long hours and little job protection. A street vendor can lose their selling space when stalls are cleared for new development, removing their livelihood as well as their place of work.

Waste picking illustrates the connection between employment and environmental problems. At Olusosun, a large rubbish dump in Lagos, around 500 people are reported to sort rubbish for materials they can recycle or sell. This provides an income, but workers handling waste without gloves or shoes risk injuries and infection from sharp or contaminated objects. Recovering materials from electrical waste can also expose them to toxic fumes and respiratory illness.

Water, sanitation and health

A water supply is not necessarily a safe water supply. Only around 10% of Lagos residents are reported to receive treated piped water from the Lagos Water Corporation. Others depend on vendors, wells or boreholes; some use river or lagoon water. Buying water can place a heavy burden on poorer households, while alternative sources can be contaminated.

Sanitation means safely dealing with human waste. In Makoko, many households use pit latrines or pail latrines rather than a sewer system. Sewage can enter the ground, drains or lagoon. Across Lagos, leaking sanitation systems and inadequate wastewater treatment can allow contamination to reach wells, boreholes and other water supplies.

Contaminated water increases the risk of diseases such as cholera and dysentery. These illnesses become harder to manage when healthcare is inadequate or unaffordable. Stagnant water also provides mosquito breeding sites, increasing the risk of malaria through mosquito bites rather than through drinking the water.

Pollution affects livelihoods too. In Makoko, sewage and dumped waste have contributed to declining fish populations, making fishing less productive and threatening residents’ incomes.

Waste disposal: a city-wide challenge

Lagos is reported to produce about 10,000 tonnes of waste each day, with only around 40% collected and taken to landfill sites. Much of the remainder stays in streets or enters waterways. The problem is therefore not simply the amount produced, but the limited capacity to collect and dispose of it safely.

Waste in waterways adds to pollution, while waste concentrated at dumps such as Olusosun creates hazards for people living or working there. Decomposing rubbish produces methane, which can contribute to fires. Toxic materials and fumes create further health risks.

Why the challenges reinforce one another

Low and insecure earnings make it difficult to pay for housing, water and healthcare. Informal housing without adequate sanitation increases exposure to disease, while illness can interrupt work and reduce income further. Meanwhile, poorly managed waste becomes both a health hazard and a source of employment.

The same challenge can therefore have social, economic and environmental effects. Understanding life in Lagos means tracing these connections, rather than treating housing, work, health and waste as separate problems.

Lagos: essential case-study evidence

• Informal housing: over 60% of residents are estimated to live in informal settlements. Makoko has stilt housing over the lagoon, crowded homes and limited services; around 75% of households occupy one room.
• Informal employment: around 60% work in informal jobs, including street selling and waste picking. Low pay, long hours and little job protection create insecurity.
• Water and health: only around 10% receive treated piped water from the Lagos Water Corporation. Inadequate sanitation contaminates alternative supplies, increasing cholera and dysentery risk. Stagnant water supports mosquitoes that transmit malaria.
• Waste: about 10,000 tonnes produced daily; around 40% collected and taken to landfill. Uncollected rubbish pollutes streets and waterways.
• Olusosun: waste picking provides income, but sharp objects, contaminated waste and toxic fumes threaten workers’ health.

Connections to recall

Rapid growth → demand outpaces housing and services.

Inadequate → contaminated water → disease risk.