Analysis of Urban Basic Services of Importance to Men and Women in Informal Settlements of Lagos and Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

Urban deprivation in informal settlements is a critical issue facing rapidly urbanising cities of the Global South due to inadequate infrastructure, limited access to services, and socio-economic inequalities. Using Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, this paper explored the understanding of male and female participants on urban deprivation and how they prioritise urban basic
services in selected informal settlements of Lagos and Kano, Nigeria. Primary data were obtained from a structured questionnaire administered on 105 participants involved in PAR work in four selected informal settlements. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression to examine participation in PAR and how inclusion and deprivation are understood and prioritised. Findings show that urban deprivation is largely understood by men and women as lack of basic services. Both men and women prioritise health services, water, sanitation, roads, market, and education as important basic services. However, results indicate that, except for some prioritized basic services, there are no significant gender differences. Nonetheless, some issues such as access to water (boreholes), and socio-cultural issues that cannot be classified, have high male and female differentials reflecting the varied experiences based on gender roles. Despite the spatial divergence of Lagos and Kano, the paper shows that basic needs are similar, while preferences for basic services are influenced by socio-economic and environmental peculiarities. The paper challenges the framing of urban deprivation as either gender-neutral or entirely gendered, proposing rather that a hybrid approach can better capture common vulnerabilities as well as context-specific gendered needs. This calls for participatory, gender-responsive planning and the use of disaggregated data to inform the formulation of inclusive urban policy and basic service delivery.