Ogun State has positioned itself to take full advantage posed by its unique location, given its proximity to Lagos (immediately North of Lagos- a fast growing Mega City) as well as other surrounding Cities, with a housing potential for a combined population of about 30 million dwellers between all the surrounding States.

Having concluded the first phase of the Regional Development Plan of the State, the Government has developed a concept of a new Mega City (Gateway City), which will be developed in partnership with the Private sector. It promises to be the cynosure of urban development in the SouthWest.

The stretch of land from Isheri to Shagamu Interchange on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is the new Gateway City. It is about 30 kilometers long containing about

22,000 hectares of land.
Work has commenced on the Gateway City and it is going to be a city by every definition of the word.

Real Estate Development focus here includes Low-cost Housing Estates, Medium cost Housing Estates, New Industrial Towns, Hotel and Resort developments etc. It will include all modern facilities like Hospitals, Amusement Parks, Schobls, Sports and other Recreational facilities etc. People will be able to live and enjoy the peace of Gateway City while taking advantage of the pr!i>ximity to Lagos. I

Real Estate Development, as well as infrastructure development thus offers enormous prospects for discerning private sector investors in the State.

INTEGRATED APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE MASS HOUSING-
THE CRITICAL ELEMENTS

LAND
The Medium Income Housing programme made attempts to establish a permanent and sustainable approach to housing development. The starting point is the study of the land use pattern in the state. What would have been preferable is an integrated master plan of infrastructures, commercial and industrial development and housing production. This scope was, however, beyond the competence of LSDPC, who had to source land one at a time.

FINANCE
In the medium income housing programme being implemented by LSDPC, we sought to merge housing types with construction methodology, disposable income and construction cost. The premium was on creating houses within the disposable income, rather than just creating the houses and selling at cost plus, irrespective of the disposable income. The LSDPC will then seek funding from the most cost-effective sources for the construction, and assist prospective purchasers through mortgage financing programmes. Up till now, only short term funds are available for the projects with the resulting impact on selling prices.

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY
A management system that attempts to capture the existing technologies in the society and improve on them for implementation was designed. It aimed at mobilising the whole of the local construction industry and encouraging innovation for the project. It also included research and development efforts to create new products.

MANAGEMENT
CPMS developed the project management approach for the scheme based on the nine knowledge areas of the Project Management Book of Knowledge. It started with the establishment of clear objectives for the scheme and a thorough understanding of the environment in which it is going to be implemented. Thereafter, the scope of work, time and cost objectives were set. Human resources issues, communication, procurement and risk aspects of the project were carefully addressed. The management system had to address both the project and technology.