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LECTURE BY PROF. TAIBAT LAWANSON

Prof. Taibat Lawanson, Leverhulme Professor of Planning and Heritage in the School of Architecture at the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, and Professor of Urban Management and Governance at the University of Lagos delivered a virtual lecture on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. 
 
TOPIC: THE REAL COST OF URBAN INNOVATION IN LAGOS, NIGERIA.

Urban innovation is framed not as inherently beneficial, but as shaped by external capital, technological trends, and policy choices that tend to overlook the lived realities of ordinary residents.

The author presents urban innovation in Lagos as a complex and often unequal process, arguing that while it is promoted as a solution to urban challenges, it frequently prioritizes profit, global standards, and elite interests over the needs of the majority.