The City Show

In this final episode of The City Show: An Unstoppable Force, we look ahead to Africa's urban future. With cities growing faster than anywhere else on Earth, the question is: what kind of urban world are we building—and for whom? Data expert George Kibala-Bauer explains why access to data will determine how cities plan and adapt. Futurist Geci Karuri-Sebina argues for innovation rooted in local re...

In this episode of The City Show, we hit the streets to see how people are shaping everyday life in three very different African cities. In Nairobi 's Mathare, community organiser Gathanga Ndungu and a network of women activists are fighting for safety, dignity, and justice in one of the city's oldest and most neglected neighbourhoods. In Lusaka , Mildred Musonda Nkole's roadside café shows how sm...

When African countries gained independence, most cities still looked like the ones the colonisers left behind—European-style centers for the privileged, surrounded by neglected areas for everyone else. Instead of breaking that pattern, post-independence governments mostly ended up reinforcing it. Disentangling cities across Africa from that legacy remains one of the continent's biggest challenges,...

Season Three of The City Show, titled An Unstoppable Force , focuses entirely on Africa. It traces how the continent's cities came to be what they are today, how people are navigating the often harsh reality of life in them, and what the future might hold as urbanisation accelerates at record speed. It's about the places and systems we have now, those we aspire towards, and how we might get there....

In this final episode on transit and public space, the New York Times ' Vivian Nereim tells us about the accelerated transformation of Riyadh as Saudi Arabia attempts to make its capital more livable and attractive to investors and visitors. Sarah David , a Kenyan domestic worker, talks about getting around the city, and transport expert  Benjamin de la Peña discusses the one-size fits-all approac...

When Johannesburg was awarded the 2010 World Cup, the race was on—literally—for the city's leadership to figure out how to transport large numbers of international fans all across the city. They even took part in an 'Amazing Race' style challenge. But, did the investment pay off? Dhashen Moodley finds out.

When Alejandro Echeverri Restrepo became Medellin's Director of Urban Projects in 2004, the city was trying to recover from years of violence visited upon it by cartels and militias whose near-unchecked reign of terror had torn it apart. Echeverri and his team quickly realised that a better, more integrated and accessible transport system would be vital. Catalina Ortiz, now an associate professor...

In 2009, Mexican architect Raul Cardenas Osuna enlisted a team of scientists, programmers and artists and to work for his organisation. At Torolab, he wanted them to tackle the biggest problem in the country: violent crime. After months of research, his complex team came up with a simple plan: Start a cookbook. In the town of Camino Verde in Tijuana, Torolab's cookbook reconnected a traumatised co...

Eko Atlantic, a private estate modelled on Dubai and built in Lagos, was called a "game changer" for Africa's real estate market. The multibillion-dollar project was meant to project Lagos's progress to the world, reviving its economic prospects. Even former US president Bill Clinton said so. But urban expert Olamide Udoma-Ejoh says Eko Atlantic feels more like a parasite.

Fashion designer George Azzi and Urbanist Mona Harb love Beirut. They have lived through the city's multiple crises and survived its tragedies. Both are optimistic and willing to fight for its survival. It's worth it; hope lives in Beirut, they say.

Brazilian architect Pedro Henrique de Cristo moved into a Rio  favela called  Vidigal , determined to do work with impact. After years running a celebrated project in the neighbourhood, things went awry. But in the process of working in Vidigal, Pedro learnt that even good ideas have their limits.

What do the world's second most expensive private home, a spate of serial bombings, and a seemingly innocuous statute titled "Floor Space Index Regulations" (also known as Air Rights) have in common? Anthropologist Vyjyanthi Rao, who has spent twenty years immersed in a fast-changing Mumbai's urban politics, helps us make the connection.

Bo Kaap, a once close-knit community in the heart of Cape Town's city centre survived South Africa's draconian apartheid-era laws. Now, its residents feel under threat from an influx of newcomers and commercial development. They also have to fess up to the community's complicated history...