UCT Sustainability and the SDGs 2022 - Magazine - Page 27
Research and Innovation
Unlocking Africa’s urban potential
Africa’s cities are growing faster than almost anywhere else
in the world – by 2050, the continent’s urban population is
expected to reach 1.3 billion, with a median age of around
19. Yet this rapid urbanisation is unfolding without the
infrastructure, 昀椀nancing or policy frameworks needed to
harness its full potential. The result: outside of South Africa,
more than half of sub-Saharan Africa’s urban residents live in
informal settlements, excluded from basic services, decent
housing and economic opportunity.
Through our work we try to
underscore that urbanisation is
not something to be feared, it is
something to be embraced. And
that if we plan for it properly, we
can simultaneously deal with other
crises we face on the continent,
including the climate crisis and
human development crisis. Most
importantly we can anticipate what
we need to put in place to create
jobs for young people that will
make up the majority of our cities.
To change this trajectory, the ACC established the Urban2063
collaboration between African and global partners to
highlights the tensions between state-driven housing
coalition, a partnership of 13 African and international
reimagine cities as drivers of growth, resilience and equity
agendas and community-level practices and perceptions of
organisations,
across the continent.
high-density living.
including
UCT’s
African
Climate
and
The 昀椀ndings show that even within similar socio-economic
Development Initiative (ACDI), working to place sustainable
urbanisation at the heart of Africa’s transformation agenda,
Lessons from Cape Town’s housing realities
groups, people experience and understand density in vastly
in alignment with the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Rapid urbanisation and limited land availability have made
different ways. Effective densi昀椀cation in African cities cannot
The coalition’s work is grounded in rigorous scienti昀椀c
densi昀椀cation a key policy priority in Cape Town – but new
follow a top-down, one-size-昀椀ts-all approach. Instead, policies
analysis, peer exchange and narrative development,
research from the ACC reveals that the reality on the
must be context-speci昀椀c, consultative and rooted in local
ensuring that policy advocacy is both evidence-based
– Edgar Pieterse, director
ground is far more complex. The study explores how of昀椀cial
realities. By reframing densi昀椀cation through an inclusive lens, the
and inclusive. By producing shared research and policy
densi昀椀cation policies align or clash with the lived experiences
research offers a path toward more equitable and sustainable
of the African Centre for Cities.
briefs on critical urban challenges, Urban2063 fosters
of residents in two Cape Town communities. The research
urban development across Africa’s rapidly growing cities.
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