The Ogbomoso Residency
Reimagining the Future from a Place Rich in Heritage and Vision
Duration: 12 Weeks
Location: Ogbomoso, Nigeria
Cohort Size: 12 Innovators, Placemakers & Thinkers
Applications Now Open
What is The Ogbomoso Residency?
The Ogbomoso Residency is a 12-week immersive experience designed to bring together exceptional individuals from across Africa and beyond to explore the future of cities—through the lens of one of West Africa’s most quietly visionary towns.
Situated in the Southwest of Nigeria, Ogbomoso is more than a city with history—it’s a living canvas for purpose-built urban regeneration. The Residency is your invitation to live, learn, and co-create within a town that is quietly rewriting its own story from the ground up.
The Residency is an initiative of Ennovate Lab’s The Place Collective, a fruit of our decade-long investment into Ogbomoso and other secondary cities in Nigeria.
Why Ogbomoso? Why Now?
While the spotlight often shines on Africa’s megacities, secondary cities like Ogbomoso are emerging as the true frontiers of transformational development. With its blend of cultural depth, strategic ambition, and community-led innovation, Ogbomoso offers an unrivaled context for exploring questions like:
- How can cities be built around meaning, not just money?
- What does it take to regenerate the soul of a place?
- How do we build with legacy, not just speed?
What You'll Experience
- Live the Question: Engage with a living city as a text—its streets, markets, families, and forgotten spaces—as you wrestle with the theory and practice of regenerative development.
- Workshops & Deep Dives: Weekly sessions with urbanists, storytellers, economists, spiritual leaders, and local visionaries who are building the future of place.
- City Studio: A collaborative design lab where residents propose, prototype, and pilot micro-projects that model redemptive urbanism in action.
- Spiritual Formation: Guided reflection and praxis around the sacred task of city-building in a broken world.
- Field Immersions: Visits to key institutions, neighborhoods, and evolving developments across Ogbomoso and neighboring towns.
Who Is This For?
- Urbanists, architects, designers, and planners
- Redemptive entrepreneurs and civic innovators
- Faith-driven leaders shaping culture and place
- Storytellers, researchers, and builders of systems
- Anyone hungry to reimagine the future of African cities through purpose-built transformation
Outcomes
By the end of the Residency, participants will:
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Gain a deep understanding of regenerative place-making in African contexts
Build lasting connections with a community of redemptive builders
Develop and document a prototype or proposal that contributes to the ongoing transformation of Ogbomoso
Leave with sharpened vision and practical tools for shaping their own cities
A Residency that Doesn’t End at Departure
The Ogbomoso Residency isn’t just a program—it’s the beginning of a lifelong conversation. Graduates become part of a growing network of leaders committed to building people and places with integrity, vision, and legacy.