An invitation is extended to this symposium organised by the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town.

The theme of the meeting arises from work currently being completed by ACC for the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID) on harnessing land values to finance urban infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa. This project is led by ACC adjunct professors Ian Palmer and Stephen Berrisford, supported by a team of over twenty researchers from across the region.

It tackles the conundrum of why it is so difficult for city authorities in the region to share in the cities’ land values in order to provide an additional stream of funding to invest in urban infrastructure. The project carried out in-depth case studies of the experiences in three countries – Ethiopia, Kenya and Zimbabwe – as well as vignettes on property development experiences in a selection of other cities in the region. In order to support policy and legislative reform in this field the ACC also developed an African Land and Infrastructure City Survey, which is an interactive, online database to compare the relative states of readiness of each of the region’s 31 biggest cities to implement effective land value capture. In addition the project developed stand-alone reviews of urban planning, housing and public transport in Sub-Saharan Africa, which will be included in the symposium’s agenda. The ACC researchers’ work will be complemented by presentations from other experts in the field.

The event will be hosted at Breakwater Lodge at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town from 20 to 21 July 2015. RSVP is essential because seating is limited. Please RSVP by 15 June 2015 to Melanie Badenhorst on mel@pdg.co.za  or by calling +27 (0)21 671-1402