ASSESSMENT OF SLUM AMELIORATING STRATEGIES IN IWAYA, LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assessed slum-ameliorating strategies in Iwaya, Lagos with a view to suggesting ways to improve the slum conditions. This study accessed the yardsticks used to determine slum in the study area, it examined the physical effects of the strategies that has been used to ameliorate slum condition in the study area, it also accessed the strategies put in place over the years to ameliorate slum in Iwaya, lastly, the study identified further strategies that can improve Iwaya slum. The study employed a survey research design. The household population was estimated from the projected 2019 population, which amounted to 20371 households. A sample size of 377 respondents amounting to 1.8% of the total households were randomly selected across the study area for questionnaire administration. This translates to 377 questionnaires being administered to households in the study area. This is deemed plausible considering the peculiarities of housing structures and similar environmental morphology in this area. A questionnaire containing socio economic attributes, slum conditions, slum upgrading strategies, physical effects of these strategies on Iwaya was used to collect data from household heads. The Simple Random Sampling Technique with replacement was used to pick respondents in residential buildings for the field survey. Whilst, data were analysed using descriptive statistics, findings were presented in Tables and Figures. Findings from this study unraveled that about 72% of the respondents were urban poor with little or no formal education. The average year of building age is above 40 years which indicates that Iwaya is an old settlement. The conditions of buildings were substandard to decent human housing. The physical outlook of Iwaya presents two settlements in one. At one end of the spectrum, the town has benefited from slum upgrading strategies which resulted into livable urban environment. While, the other end has suffered benign neglect which deepen the slum formation of the study area. The level of public enlightenment on the usage and maintenance of public infrastructure was grossly poor. It was further discovered that renovation and construction, redevelopment and total clearance, rehabilitation and economic revitalization were the slum ameliorating strategies employed in the past to upgrade the slum of Iwaya to livable and habitable urban environment. In addition, easy access to water supply, reduction in road potholes, and modernization of housing stock were some of the physical effects of the application of the identified slum ameliorating strategies in Iwaya. Essentially, the application of slum ameliorating strategies results in a tangible transformation of the slum environment to a healthy settlement. Therefore, this study concludes that these aforementioned strategies should be sustained. Improvement of public enlightenment programme, and community participation should be implemented appropriately combined with security of tenure system and urban upgrading strategies to bring about the required improvement of Iwaya slum.