GOVERNOR Akinwunmi Ambode’s urban renewal policy is fundamentally flawed. For one, it strives to recast a Nigerian city in Parisian or Washingtonian mold. Secondly, it fails to realise that Lagos does not have to look like Paris, New York or Washington DC to be a beautiful, functional and livable city. A city is not just an agglomeration of buildings, streets and public spaces cobbled together by architectural, engineering and urban planning standards. A city captures, encapsulates and expresses the totality of a people’s way of life. Not surprisingly, Western European cities have a similar character, a character that is different from (for example) Asian cities.
