**5. The context of Lagos**

As the most urbanized state in Nigeria, the housing challenge in Lagos is obvious. The housing deficit in Lagos has been estimated to be about 16% of the total estimated deficit in Nigeria [75]. It has been estimated that Lagos has a housing need of 4.69 million housing units with a housing stock of 1.49 million units, thus leaving a deficit of 3.2 million housing units [75]. Multiple stakeholders are involved in the Lagos housing market, which is dominated by private individuals and organizations. However, government plays the role of policy formulator and regulator.

As part of the social function of government, the Lagos State government has also been actively involved in public housing provision. It has been estimated that between 1999 and 2020, over 7,000 housing units of different typologies have been provided by the Lagos State Government [76]. The first phase of the program was targeted to deliver 3632 housing units in about 13 locations in the city of Lagos (see **Table 2**). Additional units are provided on a continuous basis through direct budgetary allocation and through public-private partnerships. Seven thousand units of


*Perspective Chapter: Promoting Circular Design Strategies in Housing Delivery in Nigeria DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110656*

### **Table 2.**

*Distribution of Lagos HOMS estates phase 1.*

housing were projected to be delivered at the end of 2022 under the Lagos HOMS program. Hence, more units are being added as new estates or as extensions to existing ones. However, the units have largely maintained the original design and procurement procedure in the last 10 years.

The key delivery strategies include direct construction of housing, site-andservices schemes, and access to mortgage facilities, among others. Since 2012, the Lagos State Government under the coordination of the Ministry of Housing has been providing housing to residents through the Lagos Home Ownership and Mortgage Scheme (Lagos HOMS). The scheme provides access to both the housing units and the mortgage facilities needed to secure the housing units. The scheme is a multiagency scheme involving key players such as Ministry of Housing, Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC), Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, and the New Towns Development Authority (NTDA). The mortgage component is facilitated by the Lagos Building and Investment Company—Mortgage Bankers [78]. Another variant of the scheme is the rent-to-own system where occupants pay rent for a stipulated time after which ownership is transferred to them [79]. About 70% of the public housing provided from 1999 was done under the Lagos HOMS program. Hence, the Lagos HOMS project is used as an index to examine the extent of circularity in the provision of the housing schemes.

From previous empirical studies on the reduction of waste associated with buildings in the study area, the approaches considered most valuable by built environment experts include design for standardization, disassembly, reuse, prefabrication, and modularity [80–82]. These approaches have been referred to as modern methods of construction (MMC). However, there is a well-defined planning and design component that precedes the construction phase. The underlying principle in this respect is resource optimization in terms of time, money, and materials. Most of the materials

deployed in modern methods of construction are conventional materials but deployed innovatively. Also, an important aspect of resource optimization literature in the study area is the use of alternative materials such as renewable materials and materials made from byproducts of industrial and agro-based processing [83–85]. In addition, the use of renewable energy and the adoption of passive strategies are considered other avenues for optimizing energy-based resources in the study area [86–90]. From the foregoing, four planks can be isolated upon which the assessment of the selected public housing program can be based namely:

i. adoption of MMC and associated strategies,

ii.use of renewable, bio-based, and waste-based materials,

iii. adoption of renewable energy, and

iv.deployment of passive and regenerative strategies

As a prelude, full description of the building and the procurement process is based on the understanding that the design process is critical in the adoption of circular strategies.
