ISSN 2039-2117 (online) ISSN 2039-9340 (print) Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy Vol 5 No 9 May 2014 656 Socio-Economic Attributes of Residents of Slum and Shanty Areas of Lagos State, Nigeria Yussuf Lukeman 1 Bako, A.I 2 Omole, F.K* 3 Nwokoro, I.I.C 4 Akinbogun, S.O 5 1and 4 Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Lagos 2 Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Ilorin 3 Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 704Akure, Nigeria *Email: fkyomole@yahoo.co.uk 5 Department of Estate Management, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria Doi:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n9p656 Abstract The slum environment has come to stay in developing world of Africa, Latin America and Asia where the governments, non- governmental organisations and international bodies have failed to properly manage the incessant activities of residents in some of the slum areas across the globe. In this paper, the socio-economic characteristic of residents in Ijora-badia was investigated. Some of the socio-economic characteristics data were collected through questionnaires, personal interview, direct observation and focus group discussion. Some of the socio-economic attributes considered were marital status, education qualification, occupation/professional status, household income among others. The research population was based on the total number of the existing buildings from which the total numbers of household heads were determined and 5% of the total household head population was taken for the interview. The total number of 189 questionnaires were administered and responses were taken. Findings reveal that majority of the respondents which amounted to 30.2% were involved in petty trading which has direct effect on their daily income and standard of living. It is also discovered that the incomes of about 39.2% of the respondents are meager to cater for their immediate families; this makes the study area vulnerable to several criminal tendencies. The paper recommends that there should be synergy between the government and the residents of Badia by given them loan with no or little interest rate to boost their business in order to enhance their income and as well attend to their living environment. Keywords: Urban slum, socio-economic, livelihood, poverty, Ijora-Badia, Nigeria. 1. Introduction One of the greatest challenges facing metropolitan Lagos is housing. The considerable gap between supply and demand has found expression in the astronomical cost of rented dwellings. Overcrowding, slums, and substandard housing are expressions of this problem. The aftermath of the shortfall in the housing stock has resulted in the urban slum being witnessed in Lagos state and Nigeria as a whole. The history of slum can be traced back to the era of industrial revolution and urbanization which was characterized by migration of people from rural areas to urban centres seeking a better means of livelihood because of the desire and anticipated opportunities at the urban centres. Formation of slum is not only limited to urbanization and industrial revolution, various researchers have argued that apart from urbanization, there are other factors responsible for slum formation in urban centres and these include inadequate provision of facilities, poor urban management and poverty (Adebayo, 1995). Urban slum is an area of advanced blight condition usually requiring clearance or re-building as the most effective corrective action. It can also be said to be a poor, dirty area in urban area (Omole, 2000). Slums have also been seen as areas of social breakdown, high delinquency and that the residents are opponents of progress, lawless and lawbreakers (Omole and Owoeye, 2012). Some scholars are also of the view that the slum areas usually house and provid homes for