Improved economic fundamentals, rising middle class driving new neighbourhoods creation
The past five to 10 years in Africa, Nigeria in particular, has seen a surge in the creation of new neighbourhoods and this, experts say, is being driven chiefly by improved economic fundamentals and the emerging, growing middle class in the continent.
In Nigeria, the growth of the middle class is such that an unconfirmed source estimates its population at 40 million, representing about 23 percent of the population, and this is a class of people with relatively high disposable income, growing level of sophistication and taste for luxury living.
Other factors abound for the rising neighbourhoods creation including improved macro-economic environment, regulatory reform and better governance, improved access to international capital markets, good indicators for real estate, and housing supply-demand imbalance.
Yinka Ogunsulire, CEO, Orange Island Development Company, added at a forum in Lagos recently that large, growing and young population, rapid urbanization with over 40 percent now living in cities are boosting productivity, demand and investment, and are also driving new neighbourhoods creation.
Ogunsulire who made a presentation at a Business Luncheon hosted by the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Lagos State chapter, explained that neighbourhoods were generally planned urban communities designed for self-sufficiency and for providing housing, educational, commercial, and recreational facilities for its residents.
“Neighbourhoods are typically created by governments and range in size from 80 hectares to 5,000 hectares; they are not new towns such as Abuja, Brasilia or Milton Keynes”, she said, adding, “they are usually planned to be built from scratch on the edges of existing metropolies with some level of government involvement, and foreign direct investment or debt financing”.
Categorising neighbourhoods as New Towns, Satellite Towns and New Dormitory Settlements, Ogunsulire pointed out that they were part of Lagos State government’s plan to decongest the metroploiltan city towards the north west, south west and Lekki Axis.
She cited Orange Island, her company’s ongoing project, as one of such neighbourhoods, explaining that the project involves the dredging of sand from the bed of the Lagos Lagoon, reclaiming a 150-hectare island, construction of an access land bridge and provision of infrastructure to service the island.
“The project will eventually be a fully serviced community located about 450 meters off the headland of Lekki Phase 1; it is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative conceptualized in the original master plan of Lagos State and is in line with the state government’s goal to transform Lagos into a more organized and structured Mega City; the objective is to decongest the city and provide great places to live and work”, she said.
The project, she disclosed, would be delivered in 60 months using year one and two for dredging and reclamation; year three for stabilization and years four and five for infrastructure and amenities.
“As a joint venture, the state government and Orange Island Development Company (OIDC) own 50 percent apiece. OIDC is the special purpose vehicle set up in July 2012 to build, own and operate the project”, she said, adding that the vision was to create a new planned city on the Lagos Lagoon plus a mixed use suburb connected to Lekki Phase 1 by 1 Kilometre long causeway.
The island, estimated to cost N40 billion on construction side and to cover an area of 150 hectares with the potential to grow to 312 hectares, expects an estimated population of 25,000 people.
CHUKA UROKO