"Many routes enter the market place": housing submarkets for the urban poor in Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

"Many routes enter the market place"-housing sub-markets for the urban poor in Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria highlights the diverse ways in which poorer groups find accommodation in Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa's largest city. The first sections describe the different kinds of 'popular settlement' and how people build, purchase or rent accommodation there. They also outline other unconventional options-for instance the shops, stalls, warehouses and garages where employees and apprentices sleep. Later sections describe the housing submarkets and conditions in a low-income settlement and discuss issues such as ownership of land and structures and the often complex relationships between landowners, landlords (who rent land but own the housing), landlords' agents and tenants.