By exploring the nature and extent of informality in land markets and the ways in which land,
and, to a lesser extent, services are delivered and managed in situations where the public
sector is unable or unwilling to fulfil this function, this case study of Enugu in Nigeria aims to
deepen understanding of how informal (customary) land delivery is organized and the roles of
the various actors involved. In this introductory section, the paper begins with a broad
overview of the literature on the various issues that underlie the enquiry. This is followed in
Section 2 by a review of the origins and geographical context of Enugu, government
arrangements, provisions for urban plan preparation and development regulation, and the
supply of land through the ‘formal’ process. The main body of the paper, which comes next,
begins with an analysis of the concepts, actors and roles involved in customary landholding in
Enugu, followed by an attempt to classify the customary landholders. The underlying
dynamics and motives involved in bringing customary land into the market are then explored,
followed by an examination of the practices and potentials in the evolving articulation
between formal and informal land management. The paper concludes by highlighting the key
findings and lessons learnt.
At the root of the tremendous upsurge in informal land development in the cities of most
developing countries is the rapid rate of urban growth. The World Bank (1996) projected that
Nigeria’s urban population of about 40 million at that time would double in 13 years if the
then urban growth rate of 5.5 per cent per annum persisted. Rapid urbanization means
increasing demand for urban land, particularly for housing, but also for various other urban
uses. Ensuring that urban land markets operate efficiently to serve the economic and social
needs of urban inhabitants and enterprises has thus become one of the most pressing issues in
cities throughout the third world (UNCHS, 1996). However, public authorities have generally
failed to provide the rapidly growing urban population with services and infrastructure,
including planned land for orderly development.