Wednesday 19 August 2009

Lagos… The trouble is the systems


LAGOS faces many problems along its way to become the commercial and cultural centre of Sub-Saharan Africa. The mega city in the self-proclaimed “Giant of Africa” most pressingly needs to reinvent the systems that allow human life in such a densely populated form: systems for drainage, waste disposal, health, public transport and others. On Friday, July 17, a conference of invited experts from both public and government agencies addressed the above mentioned issues and came up with possible solutions. It was coutesy the German cultural centre, Goethe Institut. The conference focussed on urban development in the mega city and assembled a group of 13 experts from different fields, including urban development professionals, journalists, members of NGOs and architects. . The following Saturday, July 18, these recommendations were presented to and discussed with the general public. This presentation of the conference results was accompanied by an exhibition by James Inedu George and Ayo Arigbabu. Their works depict the current situation in Lagos and provide ideas for future developments (like a utopia version of the Fourth Mainland Bridge ). In a combined artistic and architectural approach, they oppose - in form of pictures, models and words - images of the current living situation in Lagos with different approaches on how to improve it. The exhibition runs until Friday, July 31. Full report next week

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