Lagos Island is a significant place of heritage in Lagos State, with the Oba’s palace, the Afro-Brazilian quarters, the markets and cathedrals. All these buildings carry within them a deep history that shaped the Lagos we see today.   

Our work on Understanding Perspectives on Recreation and Leisure interrogated a key question: what does the city look like to the people who already live and work there? 

Between June and November 2019, we surveyed 188 residents, business owners and visitors, then validated our findings with a focus group composed of representatives from the community. The result is a set of insights on recreation, mobility, safety and the use of public space that speaks directly to how Lagos Island should be planned. For The Sahara Centre, tourism and urban planning in communities must start with the residents, business people and visitors, who are familiar with the area and can contribute to its development. In this way,  lived and indigenous knowledge is treated as strategic intelligence, to incorporate what residents already know about their own city, structured for policymakers and destination planners to use.

The project was carried out in partnership with the Lagos Urban Development Initiative, an urban research and advocacy organization working toward a more inclusive, evidence-led Lagos, with support from the Heinrich Böll Foundation. We thank Goethe-Institut Nigeria for hosting the focus group discussion.