Urban Infrastructure and Sustainable Development in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between urban infrastructure and sustainable development in Lagos State, Nigeria, over the period 1993–2022. Specifically, it investigates the influence of urban water supply, electricity provision, transportation, housing development, solid waste management, and corruption on sustainable development. The study employed the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) econometric technique after conducting the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test and the Johansen Cointegration Test to establish the stationarity and long-run relationships among the variables. The OLS results indicate that urban water supply (β = 1.482, p = 0.0006), electricity provision (β = 6.914, p < 0.001), transportation (β = 5.732, p = 0.0114), housing development (β = 1.644, p = 0.0001), and solid waste management (β = 3.218, p = 0.0004) each exert a positive and statistically significant effect on sustainable development. Conversely, corruption has a significant negative influence (p = 0.0078), indicating that increased corruption undermines sustainable development outcomes. The model explains 68.1% of the variation in sustainable development (R² = 0.681) and is statistically significant (F = 26.418, p = 0.000031), confirming its overall validity. All explanatory variables were significant and consistent with theoretical expectations. The findings reveal that government expenditure on urban infrastructure in Lagos State remains inadequately regulated and poorly targeted. The study therefore recommends that the Lagos State Government should strengthen investment in water supply, electricity, transportation, housing, and waste management infrastructure, reinforce anti-corruption measures in public procurement, and adopt an integrated urban planning framework anchored on sustainable development principles to promote long-term urban resilience and inclusive growth.