Can a future city enhance urban resilience and sustainability? A political ecology analysis of Eko Atlantic city, Nigeria

Abstract

There is a consensus on the detrimental impacts of erosion and storm surges on the coast of Lagos, Nigeria but no agreement on whether the proposed Eko Atlantic City (EAC) adaptation project would lead to urban resilience and sustainability. This on-going modern city construction on the Atlantic Ocean is presented by its planners as a permanent solution to ocean intrusion and a model of adaptation, urban development, and economic growth, suggesting ‘all good things go together’ even in a changing climate. In this study, I explore the costs and risks of this future city to Greater Lagos in the broader context of resilience planning, capitalist urbanisation, disaster risk, and climate change. I draw on newspaper articles, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions to unravel the relations of power, politics, and discourses that have served to legitimize and re-position the project as a positive-sum adaptation despite public concerns over maladaptation. Informed by urban political ecology, this paper reveals that while the EAC might hold promises of short-term storm mitigation on Victoria Island, in the long run it will re-shape the physical, economic, political, and socio-cultural ‘riskscape’ of Lagos with particular implications for marginalized communities and future generations. This developing country case study presents an opportunity for further discussion on adaptation planning, disaster risk reduction, and city transformation.