Factors Influencing the Growth of Slums in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

In the last few decades, urban development in Lagos Metropolis had posed great challenges resulting from increasing population growth, decay and degradation of inner city, urban sprawl including slums. Data on factors that influence the growth of slums were sourced through variables such as % no of respondents who were non-indigenes, % no of buildings whose age were above 10 years, % no of respondents whose birth were outside Lagos State, % no of respondents whose income were above US$352.94,%, no of buildings that were constructed with bricks among others. A total of one thousand and eighty (1,080) respondents were selected through systematic-random technique with 120 per slum area. The data collected were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics including tables, percentages, correlation and factor analysis. The results revealed that 7.7% of the respondents earned above US$352.94, 13.8% were graduates and 67% were non-indigenes of Lagos state. Also, 5.6% of the buildings were constructed with wooden materials while 91.5% were 10 years and above. The results of the factor analysis yielded three factors labeled: Socio-economic (32.21%), Migration (20.57%) and Housing Standard (16.53%) which together accounted for 69.3% of variance in the explanation of major predictors of the growth of slums in Lagos Metropolis.