Housing developments in informal areas usually occur in the emerging parts of a Nigerian city, on the periphery. Land in customary tenure/ownership is being sold on the ‘free’ market and turned into ‘informal’ layouts without the official recognition of or approval by government. This report is based on research carried out in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna over a number of years.
Kaduna, together with Kano, the two wealthiest and largest cities in the North West Zone of Nigeria, despite the current economic and political problems , are still expanding rapidly though natural growth combined with in-migration. The evidence is that informal housing development on the urban periphery in both cities is increasing at a stupendous rate and this is where most new households in these cities are being housed.
Informal housing currently meets around 90% of Nigeria's housing demand. The report argues in favour of new forms of, and attitudes to urban governance that work with the and manage the informal housing supply system rather than against it
