The purpose of this study is to determine the applicability of western urban theories to African cities, especially to Lagos, Nigeria. The study surveys urban land use patterns, migration and migrants' adjustment in cities, social relationships in cities, and urban stratification. The investigation's thesis is that western urban theories in these four areas of urban ecology may not be entirely applicable to the study of African cities. Theories of land use patterns are discussed from the classical and the cultural, or voluntaristic, viewpoints; and the other three areas are examined from the perspective of broad western urban theories.