Urban Africa
URBANISATION
Processes in Africa
Urbanisation transforms the landscape of the urban hinterlands1 as the demand for
resources2 increases.
In Africa, the challenge of urbanisation is the environmental management and governance
for sustainable development.
The speed of the urban transition3 has put stress on the ability of urban leaders to manage
change.
Only after post-World War 2 there was an increase in urbanization.
Urban Growth4, Urbanization, Urban Expansion5
“No matter what governments try to do to keep development and people in rural areas,
increasing levels of urbanization is inevitable and must be confronted.”
POST-COLONIAL & POST-INDEPENDENCE EFFECTS
1
An area of a country that is far away from cities.
2
Materials, food, energy, and water escalate.
3
The shift from rural to urban and from agricultural employment to industrial, commercial, or service
employment.
4
An increase in the absolute size of an urban population.
5
The rapid expansion of the geographic extent of cities and towns.
• Post-colonial Govt’s have not significantly changed their systems, this has led to ambiguity,
confusion, and chaos. Furthermore, there has been self-regard from govt.
• The lack of transparency in urban management law and practice has not been challenged or
reformed – possibly because of a lack of demand for effective transparency by developers.
• Post-independence6 effects: cities became small and rural development7 was prioritized.
• Under structural adjustment8 – cuts in public sector funding and the shrinking of the civil
service9 depleted already weak local government.
• As a result, at the same time when urbanization across Africa was increasing, there
was inadequate local government to address the related challenges.
• African economies have stopped growing, we see this in the limited improvement in the GDP
per capita
AFRICA IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
• When confronted with rapid urban growth, Africa must deal with the foundations of urban
management.
• Making the requisite fiscal and governance reforms to accommodate the new realities of
African settlements requires both political will and administrative reform.
• Africa’s place in the global economy impacts the global policy landscape as well as the
actions of African policymakers.
• Fiscal and governance reforms require political will and administrative reform.
FEATURES OF AFRICAN CITIES
6
A time in which countries became independent, and not governed by another country.
7
Fitted with nationalist ideologies that equated a return to ‘the land’ with postcolonial freedom.
8
A set of economic reforms that a country must adhere to to secure a loan from the International Monetary
Fund and/or the World Bank
9
The body of government officials who are employed in civil occupations that are neither political nor judicial.
Circular migration is a strategy for maintaining multiple bases to optimize livelihoods and
mitigate risks of settling permanently in economically, environmentally socially and
politically precarious towns.
The Peri-urban edge (sponge of urban fringe) is a settlement boundary which is neither
urban nor rural in its character or governance.
Urban primacy10 is often a colonial legacy.
o The governance of these large primary cities is highly contentious.
The problem for residents and their organizations is that it is not always clear with whom
they should be interacting in their efforts to improve urban livelihoods – as there are
overlapping and competing systems of power.
Learning where power lies in the city can be as challenging as persuading those in power of
the need for change.
There is structural poverty and systematic exclusion in Africa, even in urban areas.
Issues such as poverty, informality, overcrowding, lack of sanitation, poor service delivery
and violence are prevalent in Africa.
Urban inequality in Africa measured in terms of the Gini coefficient 11 is already among the
highest in the world.
BRIDGING THE GAPS IN AFRICAN CITIES
There should be a global shift to a more resource-efficient economy.
Employing new technologies
Develop comprehensive data analytics.
Make us of the informal sector.
Invest in research.
Examples
Kenya – detects & manages water leaks.
– Internet, affordable public and home Wi-Fi across urban slums in Kenya.
Nigeria – Resource-distributed solar and replaces polluting diesel generators.
Nairobi – Taka, collects 30 tonnes of waste and recycles about 90%
Uganda – laying fibre optic cable across Kampala, Accra.
10
It refers to the dynamic whereby one large capital city serves as the centre point of the national settlement
system and is typically three to four times larger than the second largest city in the country.
11
Income distribution.
