Intra-city polarization, residential type and attribute importance: A discrete choice study of Lagos

• This paper explores the residential polarization and attribute importance in three areas of Lagos.
• Variation exists in the residential types and attributes in the City.
• Multiunit housing dominates the high density area, flat and duplex dominate medium and low density areas.
• The dwelling attributes are more important than the neighbourhood attributes.
• Information on residential attribute importance is essential to urban stakeholders.

The theory of urban residential polarization assumes that the urban housing market is not a monolithic phenomenon but a framework that displays wide variations in quality, quantity and value. As a city splits into different neighbourhoods, so also the residential quality differs. The types of dwellings available to urban households often reflect in their neighbourhood and structural features. This study therefore examines the importance of the neighbourhood and dwelling features accompanying housing choices of residents within three residential neighbourhoods – the Low, the Medium and the High residential density areas – of Lagos Metropolitan areas using Discrete Choice Model. Data were collected through an extensive housing survey of residences in 56 wards within 12 administrative units in Lagos megacity. Descriptive and inferential analytical statistics were used to render explanations for the variations in residential quality variables and choices across the study area. Findings evinced a preponderance of multifamily units in the high density area, as against flat and duplex housing units in the medium and low density areas of the city. The logit analysis of home types indicated significant influence of dwelling quality on home choices in the three residential neighbourhoods of Lagos. Practical and policy implications of these findings to urban housing development are explicitly given.