Copyright tribuneonlineng
The Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Olayinka Olumide, has declared that town planning is crucial to the growth of the real estate sector. According to him, town planning provided the foundation on which real estate activities thrive. The commissioner stated this was when he received a performance award at the Real Estate Discussions and Awards (REDA) 2025, held in Ikeja. The commissioner, who spoke as a joint Keynote Speaker, outlined the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development’s mandate as formulating policies guiding layout approvals, planning permit, monitoring and enforcement of physical planning laws, and regulating land use, as well as developing policies for affordable and sustainable housing, and initiating projects to revitalise and regenerate urban areas, among others. He stressed that the sustainability of the real estate sector hinged on embracing the virtues of building right, which starts with getting adequate Planning Information from the Ministry. He enjoined the sector’s stakeholders to support sustainable initiatives like the Green Building with a design focus on sustainable energy and material use, while encouraging investors to plan for the eventual disposal of the property after a certain period. He called for concerted efforts to address key challenges facing real estate development in Lagos, including rapid urbanisation and overpopulation, limited land availability, compliance with planning regulations, environmental degradation and affordability gaps, among others. He said that the event’s theme, “Back to the Basics – The Future of Real Estate,” highlighted the importance of sustainable development in the sector’s growth while providing the needed platform for uniting industry stakeholders to shape the future of real estate in Nigeria and Africa. He said that the award was recognition of the bold response of the Lagos State Government to the mounting regulatory challenges confronting the built environment in the state, where both public and private entities had made humongous investment in trillions of Naira.
