Abstract
•Description of Abuja’s geography, urban form and administration.•Review of three decades of urban development in Abuja.•The city is facing challenges of rapid population growth and housing shortage.•Other challenges are shortage of basic infrastructure as well as social exclusion.•Analysis of the recent partnership with the private sector in an attempt to meet these challenges.
Abuja, the most rapidly growing city in Africa, is not just a modern capital city of Nigeria. It is a city that is being contested by the elites who desire to realize their modernist vision of an orderly and beautiful city and the poor who struggle to stitch together a living largely in the informal sector. Abuja is also the destination of innumerable unemployed people who migrate to the city in search of perceived employment opportunities and of those who see the city as much safer than other parts of the country. It is within this context, coupled with limited resources, that the city administration is struggling to cope with the increasing challenges of providing housing, basic public services and an efficient transportation system. The key issue is whether the government’s partnership with the private sector in the development of Abuja in the last decade can meet these challenges.