In a bid to actualise the vision of transforming Lagos into Africa’s model megacity and global economic and financial hub, the state government has embarked on and/or supported various urban development projects. Drawing on the theoretical underpinnings of neoliberalism, we argue that governance practices in Lagos are transforming the city in a manner that is paradoxical to the intents of the city’s development plan. This paper, therefore, explores how government practices have shaped the city, and the socio-spatial consequences of the recent Lagos state government-supported developments. Of interest are projects from the Lagos State Development plan (2012–2025) which have resulted in significant spatial displacements – hence the selected case studies of Lekki Free Trade Zone and Badia-East Housing Estate. The study reveals that the Lagos state development policy results in creative destruction largely due to the uncritical embrace of market logic over social logic, thereby entrenching urban discontent and socio-spatial fragmentation across the city.

为了实现将拉各斯转变为非洲模范特大城市和全球经济和金融中心的愿景，州政府已着手和/或支持各种城市发展项目。借鉴新自由主义的理论基础，我们认为拉各斯的治理实践正在以一种与城市发展计划的意图相悖的方式改变城市。因此，本文探讨了政府实践如何塑造了这座城市，以及最近拉各斯州政府支持的发展对社会空间的影响。令人感兴趣的是拉各斯州发展计划（2012-2025）中的项目，这些项目导致了显着的空间位移——因此选择了莱基自由贸易区和巴迪亚东住宅区的案例研究。