The Lagos government has rolled out strategic initiatives to reposition the built environment sector for greater effectiveness, improved governance and sustainable urban development.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Oluyinka Olumide, gave the assurance on Wednesday during the  Lagos State 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing at Alausa, Ikeja.

Mr Olumide said the initiatives aimed to boost service delivery, encourage investment, and tackle emerging challenges in physical planning across Lagos.

“We are deliberately upscaling the physical planning sector to match the evolving needs of our megacity status. These reforms are a major step toward a more efficient, transparent and inclusive built environment,” the commissioner said.

Mr Olumide said one of the key reforms was the revamped inter-agency collaboration, which sought to streamline regulatory processes, eliminate bottlenecks and improve the ease of doing business by clarifying the roles of various ministries, departments, and agencies.

Mr Olumide also highlighted the establishment of the Lagos Physical Planning Summit, a biennial forum designed to foster stakeholder engagement and generate forward-thinking strategies for planning implementation, investment and sustainability.

He said the maiden summit, held in October 2024, produced far-reaching recommendations, including a call to streamline planning permit procedures, review land tenure and environmental laws, adopt digital tools for urban management, and establish a high-powered implementation committee to oversee Operational Development Plans.

In response to identified gaps in policy execution, the commissioner announced plans to establish two new technical departments.

To encourage compliance and ease the burden on property owners, Mr Olumide said the Lagos government introduced a 180-day amnesty programme, offering developers and owners of existing buildings a chance to obtain planning permits without penalties for building without prior approval.

“This generous window, approved by Governor Sanwo-Olu, ran in three 60-day phases from May to December 2024, and resulted in a significant increase in planning permit applications and revenue across Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority offices,” Mr Olumide stated.

(NAN)