About
Taibat Lawanson is the Leverhulme Professor of Planning and Heritage in the School of Architecture at the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. She is an urban planning and development expert, with a focus on African cities. She holds a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.
Prior to joining the Liverpool School of Architecture, she worked for 22 years in Nigeria where she was Professor of Urban Management and Governance at the University of Lagos, At the University of Lagos, she was co-director of the Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development and led the Pro-poor Development Research Cluster.
Taibat’s work focuses on the interface of social complexities, urban realities and the quest for spatial justice in Africa. She is well published in scholarly and popular media and is known for her inter-sectoral work which engages students, policy makers, local communities and civil society actors.
She serves as a member of the International Advisory Committee for UN-Habitat’s flagship World Cities Report, international steering committee of Future Earths Urban Knowledge Network and the World Economic Forum’s Global Council on Experience and Lifestyle economy. She is a pioneer World Social Science Fellow of the International (Social) Science Council, a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, and an alumna of the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre.
Professor Lawanson currently leads the Leverhulme Trust funded Urbanism and Coastal Heritage Lab, which explores how the twin threats of globalisation and climate change impact the built environment, sustainable livelihoods and cultural heritage of West African cities. Through the lab, she supports early career researchers, policy practitioners and public engagement. She also explores themes on socio-spatial displacements, religious urbanisation and everyday heritage at risk.
She is director of the Global Urbanism and Heritage masters, a new interdisciplinary master’s programme which addresses the growing demand for qualified professionals who can harness the opportunities presented by rapid urbanisation, whilst safeguarding heritage assets and preserving the individual identities of cities.