In Lagos, Nigeria, informal settlements play a crucial role in the city's resilience to climate change. Residents of these settlements have developed organised systems to manage flooding, including digging boreholes for water and collecting sand to lift land and structures above water. These adaptation infrastructures not only serve the settlements themselves but also supply the rest of the city. However, city authorities have been demolishing these settlements, ignoring the valuable services they provide.
Lagos has experienced rapid growth, from about a million people in 1970 to between 17 million and 21 million today. The city's housing, roads, drainage, and water supply have not kept pace with this growth, resulting in over 60% of Lagosians living in informal housing. The state government has a vision to build a "next Dubai" in Lagos, with high-end developments like Eko Atlantic, but this has led to worsened erosion and flooding in communities left outside the seawall.
Research has shown that residents of Lagos's informal settlements are actively adapting to climate change. Climate social scientist Brianna Castro conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Lagos, observing daily life and interviewing officials and developers. She found that residents had built organised systems, which she terms adaptation infrastructures, to manage flooding and meet daily needs like water and transport. These systems include plank bridges, raised interior floors made from plastic waste, and sand diving.
The adaptation infrastructures in Lagos's informal settlements provide jobs and services that benefit both formal and informal neighbourhoods. Sand diving, collecting and grading plastic waste, and digging boreholes are just a few examples of the climate adaptation efforts that residents are undertaking. However, despite these efforts, the city's authorities have been demolishing settlements, destroying the very infrastructure that helps residents adapt to climate change.
The demolition of Otodo Gbame, a waterfront fishing community on the Lagos lagoon, in 2016 is a prime example of the destruction caused by clearance efforts. The demolition resulted in the loss of bridges, shared wells, and informal electrical connections, leaving residents without access to essential services. Sand divers and fish smokers lost their shoreline, and water sellers lost their boreholes and customers.
In December 2025, bulldozers arrived in Makoko, the largest informal settlement in Nigeria, but were suspended after the United Nations condemned the demolitions, which displaced over 40,000 people. The Lagos State government announced a $10 million plan to build a "water city" in Makoko's place. However, adaptation planning should start by establishing what a settlement already has, rather than clearing it.
It is essential to record the existing adaptation infrastructures in Makoko before designing a new project, to avoid destroying flood-management capacity. By building on rather than clearing these systems, the city can support the efforts of residents to adapt to climate change. This approach can help create a more resilient and sustainable future for Lagos, rather than exacerbating the challenges posed by climate change.
Key points
- Demolishing Lagos informal settlements destroys the city's best defences against climate change.
- Residents of Lagos's informal settlements have developed organised systems to manage flooding and meet daily needs.
- Adaptation planning should start by establishing what a settlement already has, rather than clearing it.
