Page 70 - The World About Us

Eko Atlan c site
2.2.4

Slum clearances and new towers: a tale of two cities?

For the growing middle class in “Eko Atlan c is more than a city...It’s a
Lagos housing is also a problem, if not clear vision of the future. It creates a
of the same type as the very poor. space to live and work, seemingly out of
Those who work in the Central Business thin air. By reclaiming eroded land, an
District on Lagos Island, face oceanfront wonder is not only evolving
astronomical housing costs if they wish rapidly, but it is also providing a posi ve
to live near work. response to worldwide issues such as
popula on growth and coastal erosion
Most workers rent or own homes due to climate change.”
on the mainland and commute daily to Eko Atlan c brochure
work: a journey which can take up to fig.194 Eko Atlan c development logo.
two hours each way. Many workers on fig.195 The Eko Pearl Towers rise above the rest of the Eko Atlan c site.
Lagos Island have perfected the art of
whiling away a couple of hours each
evening a er work in a local bar, wai ng
for the traffic to start moving before
making their way home.
One solu on to this housing crisis is
being met by the Eko Atlan c City. This
development, which plans to be a
residen al and commercial hub, is being
built on 10km² of reclaimed land
adjacent to Victoria Island. When
completed Eko Atlan c plans to be
home to 250,000 people with another
150,000 commu ng in each day for dredged sand, behind an 8.5 km long Eko Atlan c is not without its
work. sea wall. The ‘Great Wall of Lagos’ is a cri cs. Local residents living nearby
The scale of Eko Atlan c is stone and concrete accropode have complained about construc on
astonishing. The site is filled with revetment rising 8 metres above the disturbance. A 2012 ocean surge, which
sea. When completed, the wall will be swept 16 people to their deaths off
“Modern ci es like Eko Atlan c are a topped with a 12.5 metre wide Kuramo beach, was blamed by some on
way for the upper middle classes and
promenade. By 2017, 6km of the wall the sand-filling for the Eko Atlan c site.
the transna onal elites to escape the
exis ng city and the constraints it had been completed. For many people the high-tech glitz
poses on lifestyle – everything from Roads, bridges, sewers and water and glamour of Eko Atlan c will put
crowding, transport, traffic jams, mains have already been installed. The Lagos on the interna onal map. For
problems with electricity, with the
first of the five high-rise residen al many others, it is a symptom of a
water. But for the vast majority of
towers, part of the Eko Pearl Towers system which ignores the needs of the
people, even the ordinary middle class,
they are irrelevant.” complex, was due to take its first vast majority of slum dwellers who
Deborah Po s, reader in Human residents in 2018, with the second could only dream of ever affording a flat
Geography at King’s College London. tower completed soon a er. inside Eko Atlan c.

Providing clean water to the megacity fig.196 Water vendors’ carts .
Providing water to the city’s million of inhabitants is one of the
most pressing issues facing Lagos. Only one in ten residents have
access to piped, clean and drinkable water. Most rely on private
boreholes or water bought from one of the city’s thousands of water
vendors. These water vendors drag trolleys weighing as much as
350kg through the potholed streets, loaded with 25 litre jerry cans of
water. A large family may use ten of these each day.
The shortage of potable water (water clean enough to drink) is
the result of years of mismanagement, according to a United Na ons
report in 2016, which stated, “Government reports indicate
alarmingly high deficits in the sector, represen ng clearly
unacceptable condi ons for millions of the megacity’s residents.”

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Cities have distinct challenges and ways of life, influenced by its people and culture.