The gradual transformation of Ikoyi from a highbrow residential suburb into a commercial centre has raised fundamental questions about urban planning and control in Lagos. With high-rise buildings springing up all over Ikoyi, the once serene and exclusive neighbourhood is bound to be history sooner than later. The Lagos State Urban Renewal Authority (LASURA) should, therefore, get involved in the redevelopment process going on in Ikoyi to avoid potential congestion as the population and economic activities in the area escalate.
Ikoyi was originally carved out by the British colonial administration as a purely residential area for the senior officials of the colonial government and well-heeled private citizens, largely expatriates. The area was well planned and beautifully laid out. The housing and population density was very low, hence there was enough space for gardens, swimming pools, parking and sundry recreation. The area was serene, noiseless and clean.
Nigeria is not the only place where the British colonists established Government Reserved Areas (GRAs). Similar GRAs were also established in Accra (Ghana), Nairobi (Kenya), Harare (Zimbabwe), among other colonies and those countries have not destroyed the colonial legacy for commercial interests the way Nigeria has done.
Changing the land use of Ikoyi may not be totally out of place, especially, from the point of urban renewal. The only problem is what is happening in Ikoyi appears to be without any coherent plan. And, given the insatiable greed of well-heeled Nigerians, Ikoyi would be totally defaced and its serenity destroyed forever.
It was not unexpected that once the colonial houses built for top civil servants were sold and ownership changed to private and corporate hands, the buildings would be demolished and replaced with new structures that would change the suburb’s face. What was not envisaged is the haphazard developments that have begun to spring up, such that the low crime rate that had characterised the area would change. These are issues that need to be taken into account under the new arrangement. Some experts have argued that there is gross underutilization of Ikoyi land. They say that a situation where a three-bedroom bungalow solely occupies a plot of land of thousands of square metres valued at over a billion naira is uneconomic.
As they say, when the value of the property on a piece of land is lower than the value of the land, then there is the need to redevelop the property in order to release the latent value in the land. This may well be what is happening in Ikoyi but it ought to be better managed.
Indeed, there are many plots of about one acre (4,000m2), with just a one bedroom bungalow or detached house on it, occupied by the colonial masters in those days. Today, the protagonists insist that such underutilisation of such land size cannot be justified. Hence, such buildings are being demolished and replaced with high-rise multi-storey blocks of flats. Some buildings are also being converted to commercial use because the initial plan for Ikoyi did not make enough provision for commercial activities, as only the Falomo Shopping Centre was provided. It is on this ground that professionals in the real estate sector are hailing the emergence of high-rise buildings in Ikoyi, as a development long overdue.
Unfortunately, the urban planning authorities seem to be detached from the whole redevelopment process, often, in a certain planlessness that may soon turn Ikoyi into a concrete jungle at best, or even a slum. While urban re-development is an integral part of a conscious planning process intended to restructure and reinvigorate less efficient city sectors, a disjointed redevelopment process, as is evident in Ikoyi, is bound to present problems. Sadly enough, many parts of Lagos are choking as a result of the absence of proper physical planning intervention, and the city cannot afford to have another problem in the Ikoyi axis.
Without a strategically designed masterplan duly approved by the authorities and strictly enforced, what might result is a state of organised disorder. The time to correct any potential adverse situation is now. There is need to regulate the carrying capacity of Ikoyi and back it up with adequate infrastructure. There is no way the imminent population explosion and burgeoning economic activities would be comfortably accommodated by the same few roads used by the colonial civil servants. Certainly, the new commercial order in Ikoyi would require new roads to facilitate commerce. There may be need for flyovers linking the area with the rest of the city to decongest traffic.
There is also the need to put a limit to what Ikoyi could accommodate. The unending demand for offices and shops cannot justify an unbridled conversion of residential properties to commercial uses. There are many parts of Lagos that were once residential but, sadly, have been converted to commercial use. Cases in point include Awolowo Road, Kingsway Road, Allen Avenue and Festac Town. The disintegration of Festac Town in particular, is a sad reminder of what the unbridled greed of some Nigerians and the tendency to deface the metropolis with impunity can cause. This should not be allowed in Ikoyi, once a thing of beauty.
