Urbanisation: A Hope or a Challenge In Africa?
Author: Parismita Sonowal (Research Department)
Urbanisation is often portrayed as the symbol of progress, fuelling economic growth, technological advancement, and social transformation. Yet, beneath this illusionistic image lies a complex web of challenges—inequality, insufficient infrastructure, and environmental degradation—that must be addressed for sustainable development. While cities offer opportunities for innovation and prosperity, they also exacerbate social divides and strain public resources. The paper Constructions of Hope: Three Grounds for Unity in African Urban Theory critiques existing urban theories and challenges neoliberal market-driven policies that promote privatisation and deregulation, as well as postcolonial narratives that romanticise creative practices. It advocates for a balanced perspective, integrating structural critiques with grassroots agency for sustainable urban futures.
As I reflect on these themes, I believe it’s crucial to consider the lived realities behind urban development:
“Unchecked urbanisation often leads to fragmented Healthcare Systems, Housing insecurity, and Socio-spatial exclusion. As cities expand, unchecked growth can lead to gentrification, displacing vulnerable communities and pushing them farther from essential services like healthcare, education, and affordable housing. This creates a barrier to equitable access, undermining progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) and threatening the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being, Goal 4: Quality Education, Goal 10: Reduced Inequality and Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.). By understanding these dynamics, we can plan for more inclusive development that supports all communities, ensuring that no one is left behind in the push for development.”
This blog explores the dual nature of urbanisation, focusing on how African cities can navigate these challenges to create inclusive, resilient, and equitable urban futures.
Key Challenges of Urbanisation in Africa
Market Fundamentalism and Inequality: Market-driven urban policies often prioritise profit over public welfare, resulting in greater inequality and environmental degradation. These policies exacerbate issues like displacement, lack of affordable housing, and underfunded infrastructure. In cities like Lagos, Nigeria, market-led urban planning has resulted in skyrocketing property prices, making housing unaffordable for low-income residents, specifically in informal settings such as Makoko. To address this, African cities must shift to people-centred urban planning, prioritising affordable housing, healthcare, and public services to ensure equitable growth.
Neoliberalism and Gentrification: Neoliberal urban policies often lead to gentrification, displacing low-income residents and exacerbating social divides. In Cape Town, South Africa, gentrification has increasingly affected areas like Woodstock and Salt River, where affluent buyers and developers are driving up property values, displacing long-time residents. This pattern is repeated across several African cities, weakening public sectors, particularly healthcare and urban planning, contributing to growing inequality. In Africa, cities must reassess neoliberal policies and explore alternative models that promote affordable housing and social inclusion, particularly in healthcare and urban planning, contributing to growing inequality.
Climate Change and Urban Resilience: African cities are particularly highly vulnerable to climate change, including flooding, extreme heat, and water scarcity. Informal settlements, often located in high-risk areas, bear the brunt of these challenges. In Accra, Ghana, the heavily urbanised Ashaiman district faces frequent flooding, exacerbated by poor drainage systems and inadequate urban planning. Urban heat islands, coupled with a lack of green spaces, make cities like Nairobi and Lagos even more vulnerable during heat waves. Building climate-resilient cities through sustainable infrastructure and community-focused planning is essential for long-term stability.
Technology and the Digital Divide: While smart city technologies can improve efficiency and reduce environmental impacts, they are often inaccessible to low-income communities. In Nairobi, the implementation of smart city technologies like automated traffic management and e-governance has been largely inaccessible to informal settlement residents due to cost and infrastructure limitations. This “ digital divide” has contributed to a growing gap between wealthy and low-income residents, with the latter missing out on essential services and opportunities for social mobility. To ensure Artificial Intelligence(AI) benefits everyone, strategies must be tailored to local challenges ( like considering UN-Habitat report policy) rather than using a one‑size‑fits‑all approach. This means designing inclusive AI solutions that provide equitable access to services and opportunities for residents, even in informal settlements.
Pathways Towards Inclusive Urbanisation
To address these challenges, African cities must embrace inclusive policies that prioritise people over profit. Here are four key strategies:
1. Prioritise People Over Profit
Inclusionary Zoning: Require developers to allocate a percentage of new housing units to affordable housing.
Community Land Trusts (CLTs): Establish CLTs to ensure long-term affordability of housing and prevent displacement.
2. Ensure Equitable Access to Services
Universal Basic Services (UBS): Guarantee access to healthcare, education, water, and sanitation for all residents.
Invest in Public Infrastructure: Focus on underserved areas, such as informal settlements, to ensure all communities have access to basic services.
3. Build Climate-Resilient Cities
Nature-Based Solutions: Use urban forests, wetlands, and green roofs to mitigate flooding and heat waves.
Climate-Resilient Infrastructure: Invest in flood-resistant housing, drainage systems, and renewable energy.
4. Leverage Technology for Inclusion
Smart City Initiatives: Use digital platforms to improve traffic management, resource efficiency, and service delivery.
Decentralised Solutions: Implement solar microgrids and rainwater harvesting systems in low-income communities.
The Role of Governance and Community Participation
Inclusive urbanisation demands strong governance and active community participation.
African cities must:
Reform Urban Planning Systems:
Adopt Holistic Approaches: Urban planning must integrate housing, infrastructure, and economic development to create sustainable cities.
Engage Communities in Decision-Making: Engage communities in decision-making processes to ensure policies reflect local needs.
Example: UN-Habitat advocates sustainable development for the rights of informal settlement residents in Kenya.
Strengthen Local Governance:
Empower Local Governments: Give local governments more control to take charge of urban planning and service delivery, responsive to community needs.
Explore Innovative Financing Models: Explore financing models, such as green bonds and public-private partnerships.
Foster Reform Coalitions:
Collaborate Across Sectors: By collaborating with grassroots organisations, tech start-ups, and policy networks(Research Institutions and think Tanks), African cities can leverage diverse knowledge and resources to drive meaningful change.
Conclusion: Towards Equitable and Sustainable Cities
Urbanisation presents both immense opportunities and significant challenges for African cities. While it promises economic growth and social mobility, it also exacerbates inequalities and strains urban systems. By framing the discussion within key policy frameworks, such as the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the UN's SDG 11, we begin to see how local urbanisation issues are intertwined with global development goals.
But what happens when similar challenges, like gentrification, are experienced by African and Black communities in cities outside of Africa, such as the UK?
While this blog has introduced the complexities of urbanisation, the journey to creating inclusive, sustainable cities is only beginning. Furthermore, on upcoming blog, we will explore gentrification through the lens of health equity and housing access health equity and housing access in the UK, focusing on the experiences of African and Black communities in Brixton and Birmingham, We will examine how strategic policy interventions can reshape these urban challenges and address long standing inequalities.
Will these interventions be enough to create equitable urban spaces, or will the forces of gentrification continue to push vulnerable communities further into the margins?
Selected Reference:
Reference :
AL, L. (2021a) Constructions of Hope: Three Grounds for Unity in African Urban Theory, National Institute of African Studies. Available at: https://usercontent.one/wp/thesaharan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/11-Constructions-of-hope.pdf?media=1683034669 (Accessed: 23 March 2025).
Metcalf, S. (2017) Neoliberalism: The idea that swallowed the world, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/aug/18/neoliberalism-the-idea-that-changed-the-world (Accessed: 30 March 2025). Nation, U. (2019) Visit to the Republic of Nigeria by ms. Leilani Farha, special rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context | OHCHR, United Nation Human Rights. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2019/09/visit-republic-nigeria-ms-leilani-farha-special-rapporteur-adequate-housing (Accessed: 30 March 2025).