Participation and Governance in African Cities
Professor Sue Parnell speaks to Robtel Neajai Pailey on understanding participation, complexity and governance in African cities. This video is part of the Governance in Africa Conversations Series.
Professor Parnell is a founding member of the African Centre for Cities, has served the ACC on secondment, and sits on its Executive Committee.
2013 Dates for MPhil programme Announced
The quest for sustainable development is a major contemporary challenge. A fundamental condition for achieving this is restructuring the processes of production-consumption-waste generation within urban/industrial complexes.
Using climate science to inform policy on peri-urban issues in Africa
Anna Taylor, one of ACC’s Mistra Urban Futures researchers, recently participated in a workshop to co-produce a methodology for using climate science information to develop policy messages pertaining to peri-urban areas in Africa.
Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
The Urban Studies Foundation is inviting applications for Postdoctoral Research Fellowships that can be undertaken in various institutions across the globe. The ACC would be keen to host a successful applicant after first discussing the scope of the proposed research and its fit with the ACC. Please contact Gordon Pirie at the ACC in this regard.
African Cities Reader II: Mobilities and Fixtures
The African Cities Reader II: Mobilities and Fixtures is the second installment of this biennial publication that brings together contributors from across Africa and the world to challenge the prevailing depiction of urban life on the continent and redefine cityness, Africa-style.
Quick Guide 01 – Urban Africa: Building with Untapped Potential
Africa and Asia are at the epicentre of the second large-scale urban transition in the history of the world. The first transition unfolded between 1750 and 1950 in North America and Europe, which saw the urban share of their total population grow from 10% to 52%. The second urban transition has been unfolding largely in the global South since 1950; by 2030 the urban share of the population in this region will have grown from 18% to 56%.
Quick Guide 03 – Land: A Crucial Element in Housing the Urban Poor
Without land, there can be no housing. And without looking at the issue of land, there can be no meaningful discussion about how to solve the problems of housing for the poor in our cities. The inaccessibility of decent, secure, affordable land is the major reason why there are so many informal settlements in African cities and is a contributing factor to urban poverty.
Quick Guide 02 – Low Income Housing: Approaches to Helping the Urban Poor Find Adequate Housing in African cities
This guide describes several ways of addressing low-income housing in African cities at the programme and project level. It focuses on well tried methods of improving the housing and living environments of people living in slums and informal settlements, and providing adequate housing for future generations of urban poor.
African Cities Reader
Discourses on urban development tend to dehumanise ordinary Africans by stripping them of the ingenuity it takes to simply survive and reproduce a sense of identity, community, belonging and aspiration that coincides with the conditions of poverty and exploitation.