Stakeholders in the built environment have expressed concern on the readiness of African cities in addressing the growing demands for professionals with the expertise to harness opportunities and risks presented by rapid urban development.
They stakeholders expressed the concern at a workshop jointly hosted by the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies (IADS) University of Lagos and CoDesign Africa.
The theme of the workshop is: Building the 600 million African Super City.
Speaking at the event, the keynote speaker, Prof. Olumide Olusanya warned of the challenges ahead, if African cities failed to promote and preserve cities that were liveable, as well environmental and socially friendly.
“What economists are telling us is that between Abidjan in Cote D’ivoire and Lagos for instance, in the next few years, there is going to be very serious development. And I mean one of the highest rate of development in the world.
“And so, we need to be ready for this. This is my line of argument. Now the question is, how do we have this expected level of development and still be able to navigate through?.
“How do we manage cities that are liveable, environmental and social friendly and that can even be built because at the present rate of construction, it is not going to be possible. So, the growth is real,” he said
According to him, unless something is urgently done to harness the growth, there is going to be serious problems.
Giving instances of the type of challenges such development could pose, he cited cost of construction, the method of construction and the way some persons were presently building, noting that they were extremely expensive.
He also cited inefficient costs as well as the use of land among others.
“So, when you have inefficiency compounding inefficiency, it affects employment, wealth creation and generally makes everybody poor and the situation keeps compounding itself.
“My takeaway therefore, is that we have to come together as a people and learn to do cost efficient housing, cost efficient city planning, everything based on productivity, that is, production and productivity, as well as develop capacity for production and wealth creation,” Prof. Olusanya said.
On his part, the Director, IADS, Prof.Ayo Yusuf expressed worries about the steady rise in population in Lagos and the need to act proactively, to check the challenges that were associated with the situation.
“Today’s workshop is centred on architecture, built environment, urbanisation and about preparing for some years ahead.
“They are saying that the strip between Abidjan and Lagos, with about 600 kilometers, will take about 40 per cent of the population of the world and so, we have to set up this workshop to discuss it.
“Ofcourse we have this partnership with CoDesign Africa by Arch.Baba-Oladeji to discuss the way forward.
“We brought in very experienced speaker in the person of Prof. Olusanya to give us an insight on what the topic is about and this will be followed by a round table,” the IADS boss stated.
According to him, it is expected that organisers will get the much needed information that can be shared with government and private initiatives, in order for them to take part in the built environment that is envisaged for urban areas in Nigeria, starting with Lagos.
“Preparation first of all starts with building capacities from below, producing students who can combine architecture itself with modern media, the I.T., and who will be able to move everything beyond the level the keynote speaker has gotten to.
“They also should be able to give us real African designs that will speak to our climatic condition, ensure that we are able to keep the environment clean and be able to build our houses in such a way that will bring to our consciousness that we are in the tropic,” Prof. Yusuf stated.
Also speaking, Arch. Anthony Baba-Oladeji, Founder, CoDesign Africa, expressed the need for urgent steps to be taken, to prepare Africans for a future that was inevitable.
According to him, with the Detty December fast approaching, there is signs that the people and city may not be ready.
Detty December is the festive period at the end of the year in Nigeria, typically from mid-December through the New Year.
It is a time of vibrant celebrations, social gatherings, parties, and festivities characterised by high energy, excitement, and optimism.
“Today, we are here to talk about the future. It is inevitable.
“With the Detty December around the corner, we can see that our cities are not good enough, to host people. We do not have enough houses, water resources, renewable energy and sewages among others, and we have potentials for them.
“About one quarter of the world would be young Africans, by 2050, so what are we doing about it?. What kind of houses will they want to live in and what kind of people will they want to meet; and that is what we are talking about.
“So, the aim of this workshop is to first and foremost, get people talking. The issue is that when it comes to solution, people are not talking to each other,” he said.
According to him, solutions are usually blocked in the private sector, finance, legal, etc, noting that people hesitate to share solutions.
“So, we want to do more collaborations, awareness, so that architects will know what developers need, developers know what financiers need and government know what developers need, hence the need for this conversation,” he said.
Baba-Oladeji then urged all stakeholders to ensure they built on some of the ideas generated from the workshop, noting that it should not just end on papers, or be all talks without action.
“We want to see a situation where proposals are bearing reality. We don’t want it to just be on papers. African youth is centred on the way our cities are built,” he stated.
