The Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Oluyinka Olumide, warned on Monday that the state faces “intense urban and population pressure” and has launched on-site inspections of informal spaces to ease the strain.
The assessments began along the Lekki–Ajah corridor, the ministry said.
Speaking during the exercise, Olumide said the inspections show the government is determined to “turn such spaces around for the better,” and stressed the need to make the most of limited land.
“In Lagos, every square metre of land matters, as we are the smallest state in the country by landmass, yet face intense urban and population pressure,” he said.
Officials said the exercise will inform “practical prototypes” to be piloted in key corridors and that OCTRAGON, a private-sector partner, is collaborating with the state to manage informal spaces more orderly and sustainably.
The commissioner highlighted that effective management of informal areas is vital for mobility, safety, urban aesthetics and environmental protection.
Urban planners and government aides joined the visit, including the Special Adviser on Survey Matters and the Permanent Secretary, as authorities signaled a push toward integrated urban development and a more resilient megacity.
Lagos’s rapid growth, recent estimates put the metro area population in the tens of millions, is part of the reasons heightening pressure on housing, transport and services.
The ministry said the fieldwork will be used to design pilot interventions that could be scaled across the state as part of broader “new town” and decongestion strategies aimed at improving livability and absorbing continued population growth.
