The people who live in cities must have a say in how they are shaped: Notes from the Common City Conference

September 5, 2026

Kehinde Adegboyega, co-founder of Nigeria's Human Rights Journalists Network, participated in the Common City Conference in Uppsala, Sweden, where he presented on how communities in Lagos and Cape Town resist forced evictions and authoritarian urban development. The conference highlighted housing as a multifaceted human rights issue connected to dignity, security, and citizenship, rather than merely an economic concern. Adegboyega emphasized the importance of "counter-knowledge," where communities document and advocate for themselves instead of being subjects of external research.

Who is affected

Low-income and informal settlement residents in Lagos, Nigeria and Cape Town, South Africa
Communities facing forced evictions and displacement due to urban redevelopment projects
Poorest residents across African cities experiencing urban growth pressures
Journalists and human rights defenders documenting violations in Nigeria
Civil society organizations working on housing rights
Vulnerable communities whose knowledge and voices are excluded from policy discussions

What action is being taken

The Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria is working with journalists and human rights defenders to document violations and amplify marginalized voices
Communities and civil society actors in Nigeria and South Africa are responding to displacement, dispossession, and unequal urban development
Scholars, activists, and grassroots organizers are gathering at the Common City Conference to discuss housing, urban justice, and the right to the city

Why it matters

Housing connects to fundamental human rights including dignity, security, livelihood, family life, community participation, and belonging to a city, as recognized in international law through the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Urban development decisions often prioritize investment projects while treating low-income communities as obstacles, raising critical questions about who has the right to shape cities and whose knowledge counts in development decisions. When communities are forcibly evicted without consultation, protection, or remedy, it represents a violation of the relationship between citizens and the state, making this an issue of power, governance, and fundamental human rights rather than simply economics or infrastructure.

What's next

Adegboyega plans to bring housing rights more explicitly into the work of the Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria
Planned activities include stronger documentation of forced evictions and displacement
Training journalists on housing rights
Supporting community-led evidence gathering
Producing stories that connect individual cases to broader questions of urban governance and inequality
Strengthening community participation, documentation, and access to information to change the balance of power between communities and institutions making land and urban development decisions

Read full article from source: Global Voices