Nigeria’s shantytowns are more functional than its centrally planned gated communities.
This comparison speaks to a paradox I’ve found with African real estate. The more “formal” a project is—with master plans, institutional investors, and government involvement—the more slowly it materializes. The more “informal” it is, with minimal rules other than how locals self-govern, the more quickly it becomes a real city.
https://reason.com/2023/09/02/africas-planned-cities-need-unplanning/