Eko Akete Mega Cities

 "Sustainable development obliges us to bequeath to future generations not only an intact vital natural resource base, but also a polity which serves all three dimensions of sustainable development. The economic, ecological and social dimensions can be mutually conducive, but may also clash. A long-term policy must strike a balance between these factors. Consequently, environmental policy must not be seen in isolation as an overarching objective. Today, what is needed are new, forward-looking and networked strategies for spatial planning, regional and structural policy, for fiscal policy, for research and technology policy, for labour market policy, and for the education and training system"    by  Hajo Hoffmann,      president  of the German Association of Cities and Towns; Mayor of Saarbrücken.

policy

The vision of sustainable development expresses and reflects a fundamental reorientation in thinking, and as such is the determining criterion for all fields of political action. It reflects the supersession of the modern idea of progress by a radical concept of development integrated into the ecosystems and temporal rhythms of nature. In future, the term progress will only be applied to phenomena that are in harmony with nature. With respect to an ecological model for prosperity, the imperatives will be an orientation towards the temporal rhythms and conditions for development of nature, and a pursuit of the quality of the natural environment of humankind as a positive component of the quality of life. 

As already emphasised in Agenda 21 at Rio, cities  in their capacity as the level of policymaking and administration closest to citizens to play a crucial role in the sustainability process. Strengthening self-responsibility and rights of self-determination is an imperative of liberty. This protects individuals and social groups against excessive bureaucratic power, and promotes and maintains the motivation of citizens to be committed individuals. The diverse local Agenda 21 initiatives demonstrate that the change potentials for sustainable development are present largely in such local and regional activities. Consequently, decision-making authority should be vested at higher levels only where the lower levels do not possess the necessary technical expertise and organisational capability. The subsidiarity principle is of fundamental significance for the sustainability process.  

REASON FOR LAGOS MEGACITY PROJECT

Objectives of The Summits

The vision of sustainable development must be concretised through a system of objectives geared to the basic requirements of maintaining the vital natural resource base for future generations. At the core of this system of objectives for sustainable development is the networking of nature, society and the economy. 

Harmonising environment and development, as well as economics and ecology, creating environmentally sound modes of economic activity, and achieving qualitative progress whilst protecting the vital natural resource base, are ongoing political tasks. Economic and social progress must not be allowed to take place at the cost of natural resource consumption and environmental damage. The goals of environmental policy and other policy domains must therefore be seen as being fundamentally on a par. Where regional development interests clash with ecological considerations, however, the ecological concerns should be given preference where there is a significant and long-term threat of damage to vital natural resources. Protection and management objectives include in particular:

Protection of the lives and health of citizens (protection against pollutant burdens, noise emission, radiation and abandoned sites). 

• Protection of  human beign and habitat protection, water protection, protection against atmospheric pollution.
• Environmentally sound economic management (decoupling of growth and natural resource consumption, development of the ecological component within the social market economy).
• Sound energy policy (rational use of energy, exploitation of renewable sources of energy, promotion of new technologies etc.).
• Ecologically-oriented land settlement policy. (Lifestyles and forms of economic activity in harmony with the environment also require a more environmentally sound settlement policy geared to ecologically oriented land use).
• Environmentally sound traffic management. (Environmental burdens caused by traffic should be sustainably reduced. Emphasis should be placed here on technical progress, economic and price policy steering measures, and investment. With respect to road traffic, which generates the largest environmental burden, measures should be taken to shift a significant proportion of traffic into the public transport segment).
• Environmentally conscious consumption. (As many citizens as possible should be willing and able to make a direct contribution in their own lives towards reducing the environmental burden. This includes environmentally conscious purchasing behaviour, environmentally oriented behaviour in the household and garden, and environmentally oriented traffic and leisure behaviour).

Strategies for Sustainable Development summits

One salient achievement since 2003 is the adoption of the Rio 1992 and Istanbul 1996 conferences which focused consultations not on the conservation and protection of vital natural resources, but also on the long-term aspects of development. Emphasis was placed both on the ecological dimension, and on the economic and social sides of sustainable development. 

With respect to the ecological dimension, sustainable development means restricting the consumption or utilisation of natural resources such that their vital functional component or their regeneration threshold is not threatened. In this sense the call for sustainability is in line with the technical requirements of environmental protection in addressing the following: 

• the growing scarcity of natural resources, and the increasing burden and excessive strain on the absorptive capacity of environmental substrates;
• the knock-on impacts on environmental burdens, particularly in the domain of health;
• awareness of the long-term or irreversible nature of damage to natural resources once it has occurred or is tolerated.

Having said that, sustainable development will also have positive impacts on long-term economic prospects, due to: 

• the significance of so-called soft site-specific factors meaning primarily intact environmental conditions in entrepreneurial investment decision-making; 
• the greater importance now attached to the quality of life by the population, with respect to both residential and working settings; 
• the growth and employment potentials generated by and for enterprises engaging with environmental technologies, and 
• increasing acknowledgement of the fact that only a sound management of scarce resources will maintain the needed scope for future development. 

In addition, sustainable development also has a social dimension, inter alia with respect to: 

• the creation of scope for participation by the concerned population in the development of their life setting, and 
• the decision to pursue a path to development based on social consensus and social justice. 

The Rio Agenda 21 makes no reference to the mutual interaction of the three sets of criteria, and consequently gives no indication as to the significance of the ecological aspects in relation to the economic and social sides of sustainable development. It merely calls for all three aspects to be taken into account, thus emphasising the multi-dimensional and cross-cutting character of sustainable development.

This means that whenever decisions are taken, ecological concerns must be carefully harmonised with macro-economic concerns (maintenance of international ompetitiveness) and the goal of socially compatible development. Consequently, the concretisation of this vision of sustainable development may attach different levels of significance to natural resource and landscape issues, depending on the regional or local context in question. 

High priority is attached to realising the postulate of sustainable development, i.e. ensuring economic and social progress whilst taking into account the viability, burden-carrying capacity and diversity of vital natural resources. This is especially so against the background of the present difficult economic climate induced by the globalisation of markets, increased economic competition and radical changes in the working world. 

In accordance with the multi-dimensionality and cross-cutting character of the task of �sustainable development�, it is crucial in the planning and implementation of development measures that these first of all be harmonised with the relevant environment-related planning frameworks. This includes for instance the nature and landscape conservation and protection sector, as well as the waste and water management sectors. 

In addition, regionally based development projects and measures should also be harmonised with sectoral planning frameworks, e.g. for the traffic and economic sectors. In this context, high priority should be attached to the creation of a framework structure for land use and regional planning. 

The Lagos megacity region, the path to sustainable development presents in particular the following challenges, risks and opportunities: 

• Land settlement structures that have to date been balanced are in some cases now also under threat. The globalisation of markets, fierce economic competition and increased competition for local investment is tending to affect primarily the major urban centres. 
• Suburbanisation processes affecting residential and commercial areas are continuing. Primarily in semi-urban centres, this is leading to settlement pressure on land, and in some cases to an overspill of more or less monotonous suburbs. This is paving the way for spoilage of the landscape and impairment of ecological functions caused by the indiscriminate spread of settlements. 
• An increasingly differentiated division of economic activities between areas is leading to a further rise in the volume of traffic, increased mobility and rising ecological burdens (e.g. land development, pollutant burdens, noise emissions). 
• In rural areas too, landscape spoilage is a growing problem. Above-average relative growth in housing construction, especially in non-central locations, is making it more difficult to provide utilities and deliver services to the population, is generating additional traffic burdens and is not compatible with an efficient, environmentally sound public transport system. 
• To date, little has been done to exploit the potentials of modern communications technologies for substituting traffic. Consequently, a sharp increase in the volume of traffic is also to be expected in the future. 

The basic criteria for sustainable life and economic activity state essentially the following: 

• The utilisation of renewable natural resources must not exceed their rate of regeneration in the long term. 
• Non-renewable natural resources should where possible, and in the long term, be utilised only on a scale at which an equivalent substitute is being created in the form of renewable resources, or in the form of higher productivity of renewable and non-renewable resources. 
• Pollutant emissions must not exceed the self-regulating capability of the natural environment in the long term. 

Implementation of these general rules can proceed from the following points of departure: 

Efficient management of water, raw materials and energy resources, prevention of noise and pollutant emissions. 

• Organisation of relations between the city and its hinterland. 
• This complex includes traffic flows of commuters and recreational travellers, as well as the supply and delivery of water and food. It goes without saying that municipalities cannot be declared generally autarkic. No city can exist independently of its hinterland. Yet sustainable development requires an attempt to shape processes of exchange between a city and its hinterland such that they become ecologically compatible. 

Without integrating the surrounding region, urban development cannot be sustainable. Without the hinterland, no development could take place at all in the agglomerations, since both resources and markets, landfills, labour etc. are required from the surrounding region. In turn, the hinterland profits from the innovative dynamism and concentrated infrastructure of the city, its cultural and educational institutions, and its job opportunities. City and hinterland, urban and rural areas exist in symbiosis and therefore need to functionally networked more intensively. Joint planning frameworks and activities can help make land settlement development quantitatively and qualitatively more sustainable. 

• Improvement of urban and regional management and regulation structures. 
  In selecting sites and designing areas for new construction, municipalities lay the foundations for environmentally sound settlement. One key aim must be the appropriate configuration of housing, places of work, utilities, services and leisure facilities. Only a foresightful strategy of land conservation will guarantee appropriate, optimal settlement development. Land-saving building is the key objective in counteracting the consumption of land resources. This will involve both activating existing building ground, and achieving an appropriately high density of utilisation. In this context, the overall ecological value of a piece of land should always be taken into account. A high settlement density must not lead to a loss of all valuable undeveloped land. The natural design and greening of a settlement area is the visible objective of environmentally oriented urban development. Incorporation of the natural environment significantly enhances the urban experience and recreational value of the development, contributes to ecological networking and helps improve the local atmospheric and climatic conditions. 

A policy of sustainability which seeks to combine ecological, economic and social aspects should therefore be oriented towards the following principles: 

• A policy for sustainability is a holistic policy. This does not require new instruments. Rather the existing instruments (spatial planning, land use planning, development planning, development land management, the right of municipalities to make bye-laws, and public relations work) should be employed to optimal effect. The goal of securing a decent human environment whilst at the same time protecting vital natural resources, can only be successfully achieved if soil management, energy supply, traffic, open space planning, water management, building and construction, and social aspects are viewed on a comprehensive, holistic basis. 
• A policy for sustainability is a foresighted policy. Future energy consumption in the cities and towns of a country is to some extent already determined by regional planning policy. Here, significant potential savings can already be made by reducing the demand for energy. 
• A policy for sustainability is based on consensus. Sustainable development cannot be prescribed. It must be achieved through joint responsibility. Consequently, the involvement of all actors becomes even more important than is already the case. 

Key Areas of Action for Municipalities 

The activities of local governments should focus on the following key areas of action: 

1. Transport  
The prevention of unnecessary traffic, which generates environmental burdens should be the top priorities of municipalities in urban centres.

The development of public transport must therefore also be accorded very high priority. Officials of municipal administrations should set an example to the general population by themselves using public transport. Citizens should be motivated to use environmentally sound public transport systems. The building of bypasses should be carefully considered in individual cases, despite the high costs, in order to reduce atmospheric pollution and noise in inner-city areas. The construction of new roads should be subject to particularly stringent standards, due to the associated ground sealing. The retreat of oversized roads and the avoidance of further large-scale ground level car parks are key contributions to urban land conservation. 
 

2. Soil conservation  
Municipalities should remember that soil is not a renewable resource. Soil is the substrate of human, plant and animal production. Consequently, ecologically valuable land must be protected against changes as a matter of principle. This needs to be carefully weighed against the need to develop new land in urban areas. Necessary interventions and utilisation of land resources must be compensated through appropriate measures, such as substitution. 
 

3. Building for land conservation  
Where land is being developed for commercial and industrial use, greater emphasis should also be placed on designing building and construction measures such as to conserve land. New forms of building such as multi-storey commercial premises should be called for in approval procedures. The relatively close proximity of residential buildings to places of work should already be an integral component of development plans. 
 

4. Energy saving  
All appropriate measures to save energy in urban buildings must be explored and exploited. Similarly, environmentally sound power generation and renewable energy sources should be utilised more intensively than hitherto. In particular, a reduction of CO2 emissions should be enforced in all conceivable areas through municipal policy measures. 
 

5. Water protection  
Surface and ground water must be protected, in order to guarantee safe drinking water supply. Programmes to reduce pollutant emissions from households, industry and agriculture help serve this end. Municipalities face difficulties in particular in rehabilitating contaminated sites in urban areas. Small-scale clarification plants at outlying locations or a review of pesticide application might also make a contribution to ground water protection. 
 

6. Solid waste management  
A greater awareness and utilisation of recycling potentials within solid waste management is required. Municipalities should commit themselves to utilising all solid waste prevention strategies, and to ongoing systematic application of environmentally sound recycling and tailings treatment methods. Corresponding regulations are needed at the national level to ensure that, where possible, pollutants are removed before a product becomes waste, and to strengthen the responsibility of manufacturers for products. The thermal treatment of tailings, even though it may be state-of-the-art, should be the absolute exception. The technology of these methods must also be improved, with a view to reducing emissions. Where possible, solid waste and pollutant substances should be disposed of where they are generated. 
 

7. Ecological procurement  
Municipalities should set an example with regard to environmentally sound procurement: Procurement should not be based exclusively on the criterion of the cheapest bid, but should also take into account ecological criteria. 
 

8. Citizen participation  
Sustainable urban development is inconceivable without the participation of citizens. Citizens must be comprehensively informed concerning all environmental policy measures, and thus motivated to participate actively in decision-making processes. Environmental reporting, both by municipal authorities and by local media, should not only focus on negative examples of environmental sins, but should also provide an accurate picture of environmentally sound behaviour, and help motivate citizens to behave likewise. 

 Pre-colonial Lagos originated as a fishing and farming settlement in the seventeenth century. Owing to its physical characteristics as the only natural break for about 2,500 km along the west African coast, it became an important slave-exporting port in the eighteenth century, continuing, despite the abolition of the slave trade, until the mid-nineteeth century, when the British enforced the trade's termination (Mehretu, 1983). With a population of about 25,000 in 1866 (Ayeni, 1981), Lagos was one of the smaller settlements in Nigeria, the largest being Sokoto with a population of 120,000 (Mabogunje, 1968). The end of slave trading caused a temporary decline in the population of the settlement, growth of which was resumed only with its cession to the British as a colony in 1861. Earlier refugees from slavery and war in the interior, freed slaves from Brazil, and later colonial administrators and traders settled in the port, the population of which reached 40,000 by 1901 and 74,000 by 1911. By 1963 it had reached 665,000, covering 69.9 (km²) (table 6.1 and figs. 6.1 and 6.2). Today, this settlement has engulfed neighbouring towns and villages and metropolitan Lagos now encompasses about 1,068 (km²) 209 (km²) of which is covered by water and unreclaimed mangrove swamps (fig. 6.2). The provisional results of the 1991 census gave Lagos metropolis a population of 5.3 million or 93 per cent of the total population of Lagos State (table 6.2). The population is projected to reach 7.5 million by A.D. 2000. However, based on water demand, the Lagos State Water Corporation estimated a population of 7.9 million for metropolitan Lagos in 1990.'