African Cities

“Sustainability for us would mean leaving behind capability and capacities, not dependency.” In the informal settlement of Okerube in Lagos, the community faces significant challenges in accessing clean water and sanitation, which disproportionately impact women and children. An ACRC action research project is aiming to address these issues through establishing a sustainable, community-driven soci...

“I think one of the most important aspects that has come out of this space is creating that enabling environment where communities can interact with the state without necessarily throwing accusations at each other.” In this episode, Chris Jordan and co-host Rosebella Apollo are joined by Harare-based practitioners George Masimba and Shiela Muganyi , from Dialogue on Shelter and Zimbabwe Homeless P...

The housing challenge in African cities is far from consistent. With differing historical, sociopolitical and economic contexts, cities are seeing urbanisation play out along differing trajectories – impacting issues around housing demand, supply and justice. ACRC’s housing domain co-leads Alexandre Apsan Frediani and Ola Uduku join Diana Mitlin for a conversation around housing in African cities,...

As in many cities worldwide, food production and management in Lagos is hugely complex – involving many different actors, shaped by various political dynamics and deeply intertwined with many other urban systems. With around 80% of food consumed in Lagos brought in from outside the city, the average household faces numerous challenges to getting food onto the table. Conflicts in other parts of Nig...

As urbanisation accelerates across Africa, cities are under growing pressure to deliver essential infrastructure and public services – such as water, sanitation, drainage and electricity. Yet this expanding responsibility is unfolding in a context where sustainable funding and reliable financing mechanisms remain limited or entirely absent, leaving many local governments struggling to meet rising...

School feeding programmes are a vital safety net for vulnerable children, providing them with healthy and nutritious meals that they might otherwise miss out on. Such initiatives are not new and have run in Kenya in different forms for decades; in Nairobi, for example, the county government has an existing school feeding programme in public schools. But the current programme does not apply to info...

Recently published ACRC research, exploring land and connectivity in African cities, found “land brokers” to be significant players within urban land markets. In Mogadishu, Somalia and Kampala, Uganda in particular, the research found that brokers play a prominent role in influencing land dynamics in the cities – acting as intermediaries in transactions and often directly impacting land prices. In...

On Tuesday 10 September 2024, Maiduguri city residents woke up to an unparalleled natural disaster: flooding that severely damaged over half of the city and resulted in the significant loss of lives. The five bridges that connect the city’s two sides overflowed, dividing it into two blocs that were unable to reach out to each other. Almost the entire lower portion of the city remained under water...

Accra is home to around 5 million people and plays a crucial role in Ghana’s national political landscape. Located on the coast of West Africa, development trajectories of the city are significantly influenced by national and global events. More than two thirds of the population are estimated to reside in informal settlements, with a great diversity of cultures and ethnicities across communities....

Two thirds of people living in Lagos reside in informal settlements, often in flood-prone areas and with limited access to basic services. As more and more people move into the city, the already high population density is rising. With more than 8,000 people per square kilometre in some parts – over 40 times Nigeria’s average – Lagos is struggling to meet the housing demands of its ever-expanding p...

“No textbook can tell you how to do this.” ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, experts and civil society organisations – often directly involving communities and groups most directly affected by the issues at hand – to drive sustainable urban transformation. In this episode, Lalitha Kamath – professor in the School of Habitat Studies at the Tata Insti...

“From the design of the project, from the design of the tools, to implementation, to data collection and everything, the community should be at the lead, at the forefront, speaking about their issues.” ACRC research in Nairobi has brought together communities, academics, county and government officials and the private sector, to come up with actions that support communities at the city level. Jane...

"Informal settlements in Kampala, and in other cities elsewhere across Africa, they are not homogenous, they're very heterogeneous. The kinds of pressures they face – social, environmental, political, economic pressures – they're very different." More than half of people living in African cities reside in informal settlements . Such settlements often share similar challenges –...

Urban reform coalitions can play a critical role in building inclusive, sustainable and productive cities. Made up of diverse stakeholders who collaborate to achieve common goals, these coalitions can work to strengthen relationships between disadvantaged groups and influential state/non-state actors. This collective action can be powerful in challenging socioeconomic inequality and enabling margi...

“The city keeps on growing every day. New infrastructure is being brought in every day. This means we can envisage more and more people coming into Lagos needing housing.” With more than an estimated 3,000 people arriving every day, Lagos is seen as a city of opportunity. But a rapidly increasing population means huge demand for housing in a city where around 70% of the population lives in substan...

"How can the interest and the commitment of those in charge of this city be galvanised, so that they see service delivery as important as an end in itself? For me, we need first to mobilise citizens." People living and working informally are often the most affected by shortfalls in service provision, impacting their access to education, healthcare, markets, sanitation, roads and more. In...

ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, experts and civil society organisations – often directly involving communities and groups most directly affected by the issues at hand – to drive sustainable urban transformation. In this episode, Shuaib Lwasa , ACRC's capacity strengthening lead and professor of urban resilience and global development at the E...

ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, experts and civil society organisations – often directly involving communities and groups most directly affected by the issues at hand – to drive sustainable urban transformation. In this episode, Joseph Macarthy , executive director of the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC), joins Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael...

As the capital and the seat of the Somali government, Mogadishu has undergone a slow process of urban recovery over the course of the past decade. The city is experiencing rapid urbanisation, growing up to as much as 4% per year by some estimates, with a concomitant building boom driving up land prices. However, central tenets of the political settlement remain unresolved, including Mogadishu&apos...

ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, experts and civil society organisations – often directly involving communities and groups most directly affected by the issues at hand – to drive sustainable urban transformation. In this episode, George Masimba from Dialogue on Shelter Trust – support NGO to the SDI-affiliated Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation...

"We really see these reform coalitions as very key. They're key to nurturing new ideas, they're key to articulating ideas that perhaps are working elsewhere and making sure they're understood within their local context. They're key in translating frustrations into practical solutions, they're key in holding governments to account as they go forward... So our coalition...

“This is kind of a hub, if you will, that's bringing in goods and services to the wider group of people in the informal settlements. And you can think about anything that you need in your life, in your home. So things to do with food, clothes, anything that you need in your house or maybe maintenance of your house – carpentry works, metal works, hardware. For people that are in the informal s...

"Beyond patrolling, beyond the police, beyond anti-terror police activities which come from a global war on terror, what are people doing every day and what have they been doing every day to keep themselves safe?"   In this episode, Wangui Kimari talks to Patience Adzande about the unfolding safety and security domain research in Nairobi, how she hopes it will contribute to decolonising...

"It's not our data as SDI, it's not ACRC data, it's not their data. It's the community's data. So you have to have that understanding that, at the end of the day, it has to benefit the community." In this episode, Miriam Maina talks to Charity Mumbi and Jane Wairutu from SDI-Kenya about community-led mapping and data collection, participatory planning processes,...

"Lagos is a city of migrants… migrants are shaping the city in ways that are evolving per day. We are where we are now as a city through the action of migrants. And, more recently, we find that the actions of migrants are changing the spatial configurations of the city, determining some of the political narratives and political ideologies as well as political practices around the city; that t...