Ways of Life and Cultural Character

Understanding ways of life in a city

A city's character comes partly from how people live: the languages they speak, their homes, the activities they enjoy and the things they buy and use. These features are connected. Cultural traditions influence food and entertainment, while income affects housing choices and access to leisure.

London, in the UK, is the advanced-country case study. Lagos, in Nigeria, is the emerging-and-developing-country case study. Both are culturally diverse cities, but there are important differences between them—and between neighbourhoods and households within each city.

London: cultural diversity and shared spaces

London's cultural character combines historic landmarks with communities whose traditions have connections around the world. More than 300 languages are spoken in the city. This diversity helps explain the range of food, music and cultural activities available: residents bring different traditions into everyday city life.

Ethnicity concerns cultural identity and heritage, rather than simply where someone was born. The 2021 Census recorded London as the most ethnically diverse region in England and Wales. Around 46.2% of residents identified with Asian, black, mixed or other ethnic groups, while a further 17.0% identified with white ethnic minorities. Newham is a particularly ethnically diverse borough. These figures describe the population's identities; they do not mean that everyone within a group has the same lifestyle.

London also has a large concentration of museums, galleries and heritage sites. The Tower of London, Maritime Greenwich, Westminster Palace and Kew's Royal Botanic Gardens are World Heritage Sites. Such places preserve aspects of the city's history and provide cultural experiences for residents as well as visitors.

Lagos: traditions, film and music

Lagos was originally inhabited by the Awori group of the Yoruba people. Its population now includes many ethnic groups from across Nigeria and neighbouring countries, alongside smaller international communities. English, Pidgin and Yoruba are commonly used languages. This mix contributes to varied cultural traditions rather than a single uniform city identity.

Lagos is an important centre of Nigeria's film industry, known as Nollywood. It is also associated with Afrobeat and Afro hip-hop, connecting local cultural expression with audiences beyond Nigeria. Film and music therefore contribute both to entertainment and to the city's wider cultural reputation.

Public celebrations include the Lagos Street Carnival, the Badagry Festival and the One Lagos Fiesta. Traditional clothing, markets and street vendors remain part of everyday life alongside changing fashions and international influences. New cultural influences do not simply replace older traditions: both can exist together.

Housing: different homes within the same city

Housing provides a clear example of contrasting ways of life. Income affects the type, size and location of accommodation a household can access. However, a neighbourhood's reputation does not describe every resident living there.

In London, Mayfair, Kensington and Chelsea include very expensive apartments and large homes. Elsewhere, housing includes rented accommodation and houses divided for occupation by several households, with examples in boroughs such as Brent and Southwark. A household sharing a converted property experiences city life differently from one occupying a large private home. London's housing is therefore varied, not uniformly affluent.

Lagos also contains striking contrasts. Victoria Island has luxury apartments, colonial mansions and gated communities. These contrast with informal settlements such as Makoko, where parts of the settlement extend into the lagoon and fishing supports some residents' livelihoods. Housing here is connected to both the physical setting and people's work.

Eko Atlantic is a new district being developed on land reclaimed from the sea, south of Victoria Island. Its development illustrates another form of housing and urban living within Lagos. The existence of new developments does not mean that all residents can access the same accommodation.

Leisure: sport, entertainment and outdoor activities

London offers many organised cultural and sporting activities. West End theatres provide live performances, while Covent Garden is associated with opera. Sporting venues include Wembley, Lord's Cricket Ground and Wimbledon, and the city is home to football clubs such as Arsenal and West Ham. These venues contribute to residents' leisure choices and also attract visitors.

Football is popular in Lagos, while music, film and festivals are also important leisure activities. Coastal recreation includes Landmark Leisure Beach and Lekki Leisure Lake. These examples show that leisure is not limited to formal cultural buildings: outdoor spaces and public celebrations also matter.

In both cities, the presence of an attraction does not mean everyone uses it. Cost, location, available time and personal preferences influence how people spend their leisure time.

Consumption: shopping and resource use

Consumption includes buying goods and services, but also using resources such as energy. Shopping places reveal something about both cultural preferences and household spending power.

London has major shopping streets such as Oxford Street and Regent Street, department stores such as Selfridges and Harrods, and Westfield shopping centres. Food markets, including Borough Market and Old Spitalfields Market, offer a different shopping experience. Together, these demonstrate the variety of ways people obtain goods and food.

Lagos similarly has shopping malls alongside food markets and street vendors. Modern retail and traditional trading therefore coexist in both cities. As Lagos's population grows, demand for food, energy and other resources increases. Where incomes rise, households may also buy more consumer goods, adding to resource use.

The useful comparison is not simply 'wealthy London versus poor Lagos'. Both cities contain different incomes, cultural identities, housing types and consumption patterns. Understanding these contrasts explains why people can experience very different ways of life within the same city.

Case-study framework

• London, UK: advanced-country city.
• Lagos, Nigeria: emerging-and-developing-country city.
• Compare culture, ethnicity, housing, leisure and consumption—both between cities and within them.