Lagos,the smart city.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode declared right from the outset of his administration that he was looking beyond Lagos being a megacity, but to build and project the state as a Smart City, the import of that profound aspiration was probably lost on many people. However, it became clear in June when the governor, in company with a few members of his cabinet, signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Dubai towards a plan to build Africa’s first Smart City in Lagos. A smart city, is a growing concept that draws from the success of Dubai’s innovative knowledge-based industry clusters to empower business growth for companies and knowledge workers all over the world. Technology drives a smart city and Dubai itself, with its enviable wonder-clusters like the Media City, Internet City and Financial City all within the Dubai megalopolis, is testimony to how something close to an el dorado can emerge in modern urban planning. Governor Ambode,makes a deliberate attempt “to establish a strong convergence between technology, economic development and governance,” he spoke excitedly in Dubai when the first step to making the Lagos Smart City dream a reality was taken. To him, the vision is clear. “A smart city Lagos will be the pride of all Lagosians. We are encouraged by the fact that we do not, as a government, need to develop at a slow pace but take full advantage of the digital age and fast-track development of Lagos to a real megalopolis that we can all be proud of.” Lagos was chosen from more than 325 applicants on the basis of willingness, ability and need to become resilient in the face of future challenges. And it does say something about the arrival of Lagos on the main global arena when the President of 100 Resilient Cities, Michael Berkowitz said: “We are so proud to welcome Lagos to 100 Resilient Cities Network. We selected Lagos because of its leaders’ commitment to resilience-building and the innovative and proactive way they have been thinking about the challenges the city faces.” “For us,” Berkowitz remarked thoughtfully, “a resilient city has good emergency response and meets citizens’ needs. It has diverse economies and takes care of both its built and natural infrastructure. It has effective leadership, empowered stakeholders and an integrated planning system. All those things are essential for a resilient city,” he stated. What the 100Rc boss has described is indeed the story of Lagos and the hit-the-ground running approach adopted by Governor Ambode to tackle the myriads of challenges that confront Lagos as a megacity with the highest population in the country but with the smallest landmass. Innovative thinking that comes with courageous execution and prudent management of resources, therefore, are two essential elements that Lagos State government has adopted in approaching its ‘continuity with improvement’ policy. The good news about Lagos joining the league of resilient cities is that it is not a mere jamboree. The gains are enormous. “As a member of 100RC, Lagos will gain access to tools, funding, technical expertise and other resources to build resilience to the challenges of the 21st century,” Berkowitz said. In other words, Lagos will now be eligible to receive grant funding to hire a Chief Resilient Officer who will lead the city-wide resilience building process and engage stakeholders from across different government agencies, public and private sectors and various communities “to incorporate diverse perspectives and knowledge.” Lagos will also receive technical support to develop a Resilient Strategy that reflects the city’s distinct needs and the support and services they need as they work towards implementing the strategy. In the class of 2016 Resilient Cities are Capetown, Addis Ababa, Luxor and Nairobi from Africa as well as Atlanta, Washington DC, Toronto, Kyoto, Seoul, Tel Aviv, The Hague and Salvador.continue