The facts of Africa’s rapid urbanisation are startling. By 2030 African cities will have grown by more than 350 million people and over half the continent’s population will be urban. Yet in the minds of policy makers, scholars and much of the general public, Africa remains a quintessentially rural place. The lack of awareness and robust analysis means it is difficult to make a policy case of a more overtly urban agenda. As a result, there is across the continent insufficient urgency to respond to the challenges and opportunities associated with the world’s last major wave of urbanisation.
Drawing on the expertise of scholars and practitioners associated with the African Centre for Cities, and utilising a diverse array of case studies, Africa’s Urban Revolution edited by Susan Parnell and Edgar Pieterse provides a comprehensive insight into the key issues – demographic, cultural, political, technical, environmental and economic – surrounding African urbanisation.
Contributors to the book include Warren Smit; Stephen Berrisford; James Duminy; Nancy Odendaal; Carole Rakodi; Jo Beall; Vanessa Watson; Bruce Frayne and Ivan Turok and more.
“This book provides a powerful antidote to the argument that urbanisation in Africa is not worthy of attention from urban scholars and global policy makers. It does so in rich detail over a wide array of crucial themes across the continent’s cities In novel ways, and with robust style, the authors offer an invaluable new gold-standard text for the growing field of African Urban Studies.” – Garth A. Myers, Trinity College, Hartford