On March 7^th at the Muson Centre in Lagos, Dar’s planning and urban design experts joined the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development Dr. Oluyinka Olumide to reveal the Lagos Island Model City Plan for 2040 and ignite a new era in the city’s evolution.

The model city plan had been commissioned by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development in Lagos State in response to challenges such as climate change, slum development, run-down infrastructure, illegal conversion of approved buildings to other uses, overcrowding, flooding, and building collapse.

Developed by Dar in extensive consultation with various stakeholders across more than 36 months, the new framework plan will protect, restore and regenerate Lagos’ beloved island by attracting investors and capitalising on the island’s strategic location and connections to create a world-class hub for commerce and industry.

 The model city plan also promotes and protects the identity of Lagos’ cultural and historical heritage – from monuments to its colonial past to brutalist or tropical modernist landmarks, dating from Lagos’ building boom of the 1970s. Building on input from local communities, the framework plan also advances a new dimension in the regeneration of traditional communities.

Dar’s Project Manager Salim Eid – alongside team leader Nada Abou Zeinab, environmental engineer Karim Amatoury and project coordinator Dr. Owolabi Adekunle – presented Dar’s draft model city plan for Lagos Island, elaborating on its opportunities, strategies, and expected outcomes and touching on critical development issues such as housing and community facilities, heritage, transportation, flood protection and mitigation, and numerous other concepts integrated within the framework plan.

The March 7^th stakeholder meeting brought together more than 400 governmental representatives and community stakeholders including Olanrewaju Afinni, a member of Lagos State House of Assembly, and Architect Gbolahan Oki, General Manager of Lagos State Building Control Agency, as well as esteemed representatives of the indigenes of Lagos Island, guardians of heritage and pioneers of change. Oyinlomo Danmole, Erelu Abiola Dosunmu, Prince Abiola Kosoko and others also participated in this discourse of change, advocating for sustainable development that steers clear of gentrification and honours the special identity and cultural heritage of the region.  

The meeting follows over 36 months of extensive stakeholder engagement and consultation. A draft of the final plan had also been displayed to the public between May 17 and June 23, 2023, and a series of targeted presentations and engagements with stakeholders followed, to ensure that every perspective was taken into consideration and that every voice was valued. By leading such an extensive stakeholder engagement campaign, Dar was able to ensure that our master plan for Lagos Island embodies the aspirations of the people it seeks to serve and paves the way for the sustainable future growth of this exceptional, culturally-rich region.