HOUSING URBAN PLANNING IN AFRICA
AFRICA’S CITIES ARE GROWING CHAOTICALLY FAST, BUT THERE’S STILL TIME
TO GET THINGS RIGHT INSIGHTS FROM EXPERTS
By Moina Spooner*
C ities are vital engines of economic growth, innovation and social progress. They shape the futures of nations and the lives of millions. In Africa, urbanization is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. Cities are expanding rapidly to accommodate a booming population and a surging demand for jobs, housing and infrastructure. This can make life in many African cities very challenging due to high unemployment rates, limited infrastructure, and issues like housing shortages and inadequate public services. The good news is that most of Africa’s urbanization is yet to come, so there is still time to get things right. There’s the opportunity to learn from the successes
and challenges faced by cities in other parts of the world. Over the years The Conversation has published several articles that offer lessons for Africa’s cities. With this knowledge, African urban centers can build more sustainable, inclusive and resilient spaces that truly meet the needs of their communities. Urban economist Astrid R.N. Haas writes that Africa is undergoing the fastest urban transition the world has experienced to date. It’s projected that nearly 1 billion more people will live in Africa’s cities by 2050. Earlier, China was in the top spot: between 1978 and 2010, over 700 million people moved to China’s cities. There are some lessons that African
countries can take from China. As urbanization progresses, Haas explains, demand for land will rise and therefore so will prices. But the beneficiaries of higher land prices will be property owners, unless there are mechanisms in place to recoup the value. City governments need to try to capture this value, boost revenue and reinvest in public goods and services. Hong Kong is a prime example of effective land value management. Land revenue has funded high quality public transport, as well as social infrastructure like schools and hospitals. Hong Kong uses multiple instruments to do this. In this article, Haas unpacks one of these – the land lease system. Cities have historically been the drivers
* Assistant Editor, The Conversation . Republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. https://theconversation.com/africas-cities-are-growing-chaotically-fast-but-theres-still-time-to-get-things-right-insights-from-experts-242417
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