African Cities

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. Many of these areas have no or unreliable access to essential services including water, electricit...

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 population.ACRC research highlights a lack of attention on improving the climate resilience of Lag...

“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 Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai – joins Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael for a conversation about the t...

“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 Wairutu from SDI-Kenya, and Nicera Wanjiru Kimani and Nancy Njoki Wairimu from Muungano wa Wanavi...

"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 – including inadequate access to basic services and infrastructure, and insecure tenure. But when it comes to understand...

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 marginalised groups to capitalise on political opportunities for inclusive reform.So where do research...

“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 substandard conditions.Speaking to Miriam Maina, ACRC’s Lagos housing domain lead Basirat Oyalowo discuss...

"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 this episode, ACRC researchers Badru Bukenya and Buyana Kareem join Junior Alves Sebbanja for a conversatio...

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 Erasmus University Rotterdam, talks to Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael about building and sustaining reform co...

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 for a conversation around coalition building for inclusive urban reform, drawing on his experience...

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's constitutional status. Drawing on current political settlements and domain studies, ACRC researcher...

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 – talks to Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael about the trust's experiences of working within reform coali...

"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 coalitions are really a glue – a glue that makes sure that the process sticks together to build a critical mass and the moment is not lo...

“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 settlements, they access all this through the HMEs.” In this episode, Ademola Omoegun talks to two...

"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 ideas and practices for security in the city, and the importance of cross-domain coordination for achiev...

"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, and the role of research in inclusive urban transformation.Charity Mumbi is an urban and regional planner and a projects officer at S...

"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 the actions of migrants are also determining, to a large extent, the kinds of ways wealth is being dist...

What opportunities does urbanisation present for people living in African cities? How much does it really contribute to the economy? And what wider advantages can it have for rural dwellers?In our latest podcast episode, Philipp Heinrigs – head of unit at the OECD – talks to Stephen Gelb about the recent Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2022 report, delving deeper into the key findings and what the analysis reveals about socioeconomic development opportunities in Africa’s fast-growing cities.Ph...

"A project comes, a project leaves. The community will always remain. But now, what do you leave in that community?"In this episode, Miriam Maina talks to Eva Muchiri and Nicera Wanjiru from Muungano wa Wanavijiji – the Kenyan federation of slum dwellers – about data collection and mapping, the importance of communities in driving research agendas and outcomes, and the legacy that programmes like ACRC leave behind in communities.Eva Muchiri is from the informal settlement of Mathare in Nairob...

What is ACRC’s research in Freetown all about? How does housing connect with land, youth employment and the rising costs of imported materials? How do political systems both help and hinder meaningful change? What attention is paid to informal settlements? Does the government’s agenda intersect with residents’ needs, and where are the gaps? And how can these gaps be explored and understood, to drive forward urban reform processes?These are some of the key questions explored as part of a recen...

In this episode, Amani Abou-Zeid – African Union Commissioner in charge of infrastructure, energy and ICT – talks to ACRC's city of systems lead Seth Schindler about energy security and infrastructural development in Africa.They reflect on Africa's energy "evolution" in relation to climate change, why integration is key to bridging the continent's infrastructure gap, the impact of rising interest rates on foreign and local investment, and the regional innovation and cooperation that has emerg...

Since the start of the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC), we’ve been interested in trying to create more equitable partnerships and processes through the process. The rupture of the Covid-19 pandemic provided us with some opportunities, plus added impetus following reflections within the sector catalysed by the Black Lives Matter movement.From the outset, we’ve been exploring ways in which we could decolonise the ACRC approach by helping to shift the culture and practice of knowledge ...

Despite gender equality policies at the national level in many African countries, there are persistent gender-based disparities, inequalities and exclusions faced by many women, particularly among low-income urban residents. And while urbanisation may offer greater opportunities for women – for example, in employment, access to services and changes in social and household dynamics – this is not always the case.Along with climate change and finance, gender is one of the key crosscutting themes...

Collaborations between academia and grassroots organisations are not without tensions and power imbalances. For low-income urban communities, engaging with academics may mean enduring disqualification of their knowledge.Systematic reflection and assessment are key to preventing or reverting this. ACRC’s research approach integrates these notions to build strong, horizontal collaborations with a diverse range of research partners including Slum Dwellers International (SDI).In this episode, Geo...

In this episode, Urban Action Lab founder Shuaib Lwasa talks to ACRC’s co-research director Seth Schindler about "unlearning" mainstream urban planning, ways to scale up micro-level innovations to drive transformation in African cities, and how coproducing knowledge goes beyond just empowering research participants.Shuaib Lwasa is professor of urban sustainability at Makerere University in Uganda. He recently joined the African Cities Research Consortium's senior management team to lead its c...

In most African cities, more than half of the population live in informal settlements. Residents often lack basic services and infrastructure, also facing unsafe housing and insecure tenure.Yet upgrading informal settlements is complex and can be contentious. While some successful models have been developed, too little upgrading has taken place in African cities, existing upgrading has lacked affordable options for the lowest-income residents, and tenants are frequently displaced. Moreover, u...