A Spatial Disparity Analysis of Fire Station Distribution in Lagos, Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VI, Issue VII, July 2019 | ISSN 2321–2705

A Spatial Disparity Analysis of Fire Station Distribution in Lagos, Nigeria

Nicholas W. Eghagha

Kocaeli University, Turkey

Abstract:- The spatial extent at which world cities have sprawled outside their original boundaries, has shown the limitations urban facilities have in meeting with the increased demand and service area. This has led to the question of spatial justice and equity with respect to access to these amenities. But the case for developing cities like Lagos is more drastic, where new sets of questions are emerging all together with a predominance of uneven location and distribution of public services and facilities. The study examined the spatial distribution of fire service facilities in Lagos, to highlight the disparity in their distribution. Using web mapping API query, descriptive analysis and correlation analysis, the study proceeded to establish a relationship between the income characteristics of settlements and the spatial location and distribution of fire service facilities in Lagos. The result showed that there exists a strong correlation between the affluence level of neighbourhoods and the location of fire stations in Lagos. The study recommended the need for social equality and evenness in the distribution of fire services facilities in Lagos, to promote even development and services availability across the city, thus erasing social inequalities and evening out spatial differences.

Keywords: public facilities, fire stations, spatial distribution, income levels, inequality

I. INTRODUCTION

Cities of the global south suffer from an unevenness in the location of public facilities, with city municipalities often focusing more on the affluent neighbourhoods and neglecting the makeshift sprawls, ghetto suburbs or the derelict old city center. Optimal distribution of social, economic, cultural, and sanitary facilities in the city is thus lacking and new sets of differences are emerging all together with a predominance of socio-economic inequality enunciated by the location and distribution of public services and facilities in the city; with varying level of accessibility to these facilities by the rich and poor. As a result, the perceived cosmopolitan outlook of global cities has not translated to a socio-physical and socio-economical synthesizes of people, the location and distribution of public amenities, nor services delivered by both government and private businesses; with income doing more to separate people and communities than geography, language or cultural differences.

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