Formalizing Informal Settlements: Practical Imperatives for Sustainable Housing in Nigerian Cities

Informal settlements have become more or less a permanent feature of Developing Countries’ Cities. These settlements have developed as a result of the failures of public housing programmes to reach the majority of the poor citizens of these countries. Despite the deplorable condition of housing in these settlements, they remain the only hope of the overwhelming majority of the poor citizens in attaining their housing aspirations. There is therefore the need to develop strategies to eradicate or mitigate the elements of informality of these settlements which give them their negative attributes. Similar strategies have been applied elsewhere, especially in Latin American cities, with some measure of success. This paper explores the viability of applying the strategy of formalizing informal settlements to achieving a sustainable housing development for Nigerian cities. Textual analysis of extant research reports together with a comprehensive survey of a Nigerian city case study constituted the research method. It is revealed that informal settlement characteristics elsewhere, for instance the Latin American region, is not much different from sub-Saharan Africa region in general and Nigeria in particular. Positive engagement by the Nigerian government in easing land titling and formulation of realistic standards would be a major push towards sustainable housing for the masses.