Professionals under the aegis of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON) have expressed concerns over the non-deployment of digital solutions to tackle physical planning challenges in cities.
The experts, who spoke at a two-day workshop entitled “The Impact of Emerging Technologies on Urban and Regional Planning: Challenges and Opportunities”, organised by the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON) in Abeokuta, noted that rapid rural-urban migration is increasing the growth of urban slums.
The planners appealed to the Ogun state government to enforce building regulations and provide critical infrastructure to halt the unchecked growth of slums. According to them, specific locations such as Admiralty Way in Lekki, Lagos, Mowe and Ibafo corridors in Ogun state and other places have lost their original urban designs and given way to commercial and social activities.
The development, they said, could be linked to the failure of the government and relevant development control agencies to enforce physical planning and building regulations.
Setting the tone for discussion, a professor at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Lagos, Muyiwa Agunbiade, lamented that despite the world’s digital transformation on all fronts, government operatives are unwilling to embrace it because they are profiting from the analogue system to the disadvantage of the citizens.
Agunbiade argued that the tension over land matters is linked to the government’s actions and inactions. He explained that a situation where the government is involved in grabbing land from citizens under the guise of acquisition is not the best for development.
He charged the governments to end the proliferation of informal settlements, enforce existing regulations, and embrace digital technologies in land management to restore order and drive sustainable development in urban centres.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited, Dr Babatunde Adeyemo, called for a reversal of the trends and advocated for planning regulations that are supportive, mutually beneficial, and promote growth and development.
Adeyemo blamed the rot in urban planning on poor policy implementation and stressed that the problem is not about policy formulation but the implementation.
President of ATOPCON, Mr Bisi Adedire, observed that government officials undermine planning regulations, thereby worsening land encroachment in city areas. Adedire lamented multiple taxations and levies on land across ministries. According to him, the burden hurts property developers, especially when they are compelled to pay upfront before construction.
He emphasised that planning regulations are beneficial to everyone but lamented that citizens, including individuals in government, sometimes exploit weaknesses in the system to cut corners and contravene regulations.
“The fact remains that the government owns no land. And they are forcibly taking land from people, and that is what is creating tension,” he said. Senior Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor on Urban and Regional Planning, Abiodun Adewolu, noted challenges such as poor road networks, water shortages, and social congestion, making planning difficult. Despite these challenges, he appealed to citizens to obey planning regulations to engender a more livable environment.
