Spatial Variations of Values of Residential Land Use in Lagos Metropolis

Abstract

The cost of land has very strong influence on the quality and type of development that can be sustained on such land. Residential areas are no exception. This is more pronounced in economically vibrant. Lagos being the economic nerve centre of Nigeria fall into this category cities. This study is therefore to further enrich existing literature in this area but focusing on residential land values in Metropolitan Lagos. In the study, the actual prices of various components of residential land use are established which the study classified into rent, purchase price of residential apartments and purchase price of residential plots of land. This was done for different residential land use types which the study classified into three: namely high density, medium density and low density areas. The study concludes that residential land values are high in the low density areas and lower at the high density areas. The paper suggests the need to improve both physical and economic access to residential properties, privatization of the supply of infrastructural facilities, improvement in the quality of the environment and the need to release lands under public ownership to make more land available for residential use.