COMBATING THE CHALLENGES OF RISE IN URBAN SLUMS IN CITIES IN DEVELOPING WORLD: A CASE STUDY OF LAGOS STATE.

Lagos State is an urban complex that embodies tremendous contrasts. As the former national capital and the major port of the largest country in Africa, it is a magnet for migrants from all over Nigeria and neighbouring countries alike. Hence, Lagos state attained the status of a megacity with a population estimate of over 15 million inhabitants with an attendant housing and infrastructural development problems. The objective of this paper is to address how to stem the tide of negative development experienced in Lagos in the planning of other developing cities in Nigeria, most especially in the new Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The paper is narrative and historical in methodology. Thus, the paper embarks on a comprehensive literature study of the historical development of Lagos State with a view
to determining how it resulted into a megacity with an inadequate level of infrastructural development to match its status, which subsequently gave rise to development of urban slums and squatter settlements within the metropolis. The paper concludes by giving recommendations on how to improve infrastructural facilities, upgrade urban slums and squatter settlements without necessarily resulting into house demolitions or outright eviction of people from their abode.