Ideas worth spreading

Who belongs in a city?

2,545,491 views |

OluTimehin Adegbeye |

TEDGlobal 2017

• August 2017

Underneath every shiny new megacity, there's often a story of communities displaced. In this moving, poetic talk, OluTimehin Adegbeye details how government land grabs are destroying the lives of thousands who live in the coastal communities of Lagos, Nigeria, to make way for a "new Dubai." She compels us to hold our governments and ourselves accountable for keeping our cities safe for everyone. "The only cities worth building, indeed the only futures worth dreaming of, are those that include all of us, no matter who we are or how we make homes for ourselves," she says.

Underneath every shiny new megacity, there's often a story of communities displaced. In this moving, poetic talk, OluTimehin Adegbeye details how government land grabs are destroying the lives of thousands who live in the coastal communities of Lagos, Nigeria, to make way for a "new Dubai." She compels us to hold our governments and ourselves accountable for keeping our cities safe for everyone. "The only cities worth building, indeed the only futures worth dreaming of, are those that include all of us, no matter who we are or how we make homes for ourselves," she says.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Join the call to #SaveTheWaterfronts in Lagos. Visit justempower.org for more information.

About the speaker

OluTimehin Adegbeye

OluTimehin Adegbeye

Writer, activist

See speaker profile

Writing on urban development, sexual and reproductive rights, gender and queerness, OluTimehin Adegbeye resists marginalization by reminding her audiences of the validity of every human experience.

Robert Neuwirth | Routledge, 2004 | Book

Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World

Neuwirth's perspective on informal settlements, informed by years of not just researching them but actually living in them, is a really well-written shift from the usual discourse that conflates informality with illegality or, even more short-sightedly, irrelevance. Too little information about how slums actually function is generated from the inside of them, which means that what is generally known by the rest of us is at best incomplete and often simply inaccurate. Neuwirth's investigation into the communities, economies, social structures and survival mechanisms of slums around the world constitutes essential reading for anyone with an interest in the future of our cities.

OluTimehin Adegbeye | Latterly, 2017 | Article

"Homeless by design"

I wrote this article in response to the first wave of attacks on Otodo Gbame, which displaced about 30,000 people. At the time of writing, there was a court injunction against the demolitions; later, more demotions would occur despite the government being in court-ordered mediation with the community. It is heartbreaking that almost a year later, the people have been neither resettled nor compensated. However, the response from everyday Lagosians and other people who donated money and relief items to the displaced residents, and who continue to be engaged with the issues, gives me hope.

Osman Mohamed Osman and Stephanie Busari | CNN, 2017 | Article

"Otodo Gbame: Landmark ruling gives lifeline to evicted Lagos residents"

This article highlights the ruling which declared the demolition of Otodo Gbame unconstitutional.

Lagos State Government Centre of Excellence | Article

"Lagos Denies Demolishing Otodo Gbame community"

The government's official position on their role in the demolition changed from moment to moment prior to the ruling in favor of the people of Otodo Gbame. In this particular article, their official position was that they had nothing to do with it, blaming imaginary tribalistic tensions instead.

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This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Join the call to #SaveTheWaterfronts in Lagos. Visit justempower.org for more information.