Rapid urbanization, poverty, inadequate urban housing supply, lack of enforcement of urban development and management regulations by city authorities, and the lack of repairs and housing maintenance are all factors that have created disorganized, overcrowded, dilapidated, and blighted areas, including slums. These urban slums are characterised by uninhabitable living conditions with poor land use planning and inadequate social services that are coupled with high levels of transmissible diseases and increased exposure to outbreaks of natural disasters such as fires and floods. There is a dire need to redevelop these slums and provide structurally sound housing and adequate infrastructure. The delivery of urban renewal programmes and, consequently, reaching the official 5% annual slum reduction quota, appears to be both challenging and limiting due to insufficient funding and inadequate community engagement. Projects are managed on a case-by-case basis, without a designated set of tools and methods. The objective of the project is to provide technical assistance in developing guidelines for urban renewal and slum upgrading projects in Lagos State. The aim of these guidelines is to strengthen the local and state governments as well as the local communities.

As one of the world’s largest megacities, Lagos faces challenges in the fluctuation and movement of people. Traffic congestion impacts the quality of life of many of the city’s residents, and if no measures are taken, traffic will continue to increase over the next few years. Mobility and the mitigation of traffic congestion is a key challenge for the future of Lagos. Substantial infrastructure improvements have been proposed in an effort to reduce traffic congestion and its negative consequences. The Lagos State Government has embarked on an ambitious programme of policy reforms and investments to promote and facilitate the provision of water transport. The aim is to turn water transport into an attractive option within Lagos’ integrated urban transport system. The project will support this ambition by providing technical assistance that can be catalytic in the establishment of the water transport sector in Lagos.