African Cities – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Two thirds of people living in Lagos reside in informal settlements, often in flood-prone areas and with limited access to basic services. As more and more people move into the city, the already high population density is rising. With more than 8,000 people per square kilometre in some parts – over 40 times Nigeria’s average – Lagos is struggling to meet the housing demands of its ever-expanding population.

ACRC research highlights a lack of attention on improving the climate resilience of Lagos at the community and city levels. Additionally, it draws attention to major issues with the rental sector, inadequate provision for gendered housing access and challenges around high construction costs.

So, what can be done to increase housing provision in Lagos, and ensure all residents have access to safe, affordable, serviced accommodation?

In this podcast episode, ACRC’s uptake director Ismail Ibraheem is joined by Deji Akinpelu, Lookman Oshodi and Basirat Oyalowo for a conversation around housing challenges in Lagos and how inclusive, affordable and climate-resilient housing solutions might be implemented. They discuss the need for a social approach to housing provision, why transformation must be inclusive of vulnerable populations and how cooperative societies can play a key part in providing accessible housing financing for disadvantaged groups.

> Read more in ACRC’s housing domain report

Ismail Ibraheem is director of International Relations, Partnership and Prospects (IRPP) at the University of Lagos and ACRC’s uptake director.

Deji Akinpelu is co-founder of Rethinking Cities, an advocacy group working on urban development issues in Lagos.

Lookman Oshodi is project director at Arctic Infrastructure in Lagos, which focuses on climate-resilient infrastructure to improve the functioning of urban systems.

Basirat Oyalowo is a senior lecturer at the University of Lagos in the Department of Estate Management and was the housing domain lead for ACRC’s foundation phase research in Lagos.

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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

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“No textbook can tell you how to do this.”

ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, experts and civil society organisations – often directly involving communities and groups most directly affected by the issues at hand – to drive sustainable urban transformation.

In this episode, Lalitha Kamath – professor in the School of Habitat Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai – joins Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael for a conversation about the transformative potential of urban reform coalitions and the need to value lived experience.

Talking about how she became interested in governance coalitions during her PhD, Lalitha argues that the value of coalitions lies in the process of self-organising itself – not just the material outcomes. She highlights how inclusive coalitions can serve to visibilise diverse experiences of urban spaces and calls for a reshaping of the politics of expertise.

Lalitha Kamath is an urban planner and policy analyst, and currently teaches in the Centre for Urban Policy and Governance, School of Habitat Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael is a research fellow in the international development department at the University of Birmingham and an honorary fellow at The University of Manchester. He was previously a postdoctoral research fellow at the African Cities Research Consortium.

Further reading

• Lalitha Kamath | Coalitions and urban transformation: Contributions and limits
• Diana Mitlin | The contribution of reform coalitions to inclusion and equity: lessons from urban social movements

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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:

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ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, experts and civil society organisations – often directly involving communities and groups most directly affected by the issues at hand – to drive sustainable urban transformation.

In this episode, George Masimba from Dialogue on Shelter Trust – support NGO to the SDI-affiliated Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation – talks to Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael about the trust's experiences of working within reform coalitions to improve access to urban services for marginalised communities in Harare, through initiatives including the development of an inclusive framework for participatory informal settlement upgrading.

He highlights how coalitions have been instrumental in securing buy-in for SDI's approach to informal settlement upgrading in the city, and explores their value in leveraging financial and technical resources, strengthening engagement processes, and creating a community of likeminded stakeholders who can push for change together.

George Masimba is head of programmes at Dialogue on Shelter and is the lead for ACRC's city of systems, uptake and informal settlements domain work in Harare. George appeared on a previous episode, discussing knowledge co-production in the city.

Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael is a postdoctoral research fellow at the African Cities Research Consortium, supporting research across the crosscutting themes of finance, gender and climate change.
 
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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:

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"We really see these reform coalitions as very key. They're key to nurturing new ideas, they're key to articulating ideas that perhaps are working elsewhere and making sure they're understood within their local context. They're key in translating frustrations into practical solutions, they're key in holding governments to account as they go forward... So our coalitions are really a glue – a glue that makes sure that the process sticks together to build a critical mass and the moment is not lost."
 
Diana Mitlin talks to Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael about her new paper on how reform coalitions can contribute to inclusive equitable urban change in the global South, her experiences of working with coalitions in Africa and Asia, the future of the urban reform agenda in African cities, and an upcoming conference being organised by ACRC.

Diana Mitlin is CEO of the African Cities Research Consortium and professor of global urbanism at The University of Manchester's Global Development Institute.

Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael is a postdoctoral research fellow at the African Cities Research Consortium, supporting research across the crosscutting themes of finance, gender and climate change.

Diana Mitlin's new open access paper in Area, Development and Policy – "The contribution of reform coalitions to inclusion and equity: lessons from urban social movements" –  is available to download.

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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:

> Website
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“This is kind of a hub, if you will, that's bringing in goods and services to the wider group of people in the informal settlements. And you can think about anything that you need in your life, in your home. So things to do with food, clothes, anything that you need in your house or maybe maintenance of your house – carpentry works, metal works, hardware. For people that are in the informal settlements, they access all this through the HMEs.”
 
In this episode, Ademola Omoegun talks to two city-based researchers from the neighbourhood and district economic development domain – Selina Pasirayi (Harare) and Rollins Chitika (Lilongwe) – about the critical role that household microenterprises (HMEs) play in African cities.

Drawing on their research in Harare, Lilongwe and Lagos, they discuss the centrality of HMEs in the lives of informal settlement residents, the blurring boundaries between formality and informality, challenges around accessing finance and critical infrastructure, and how neighbourhood and district economic development intersects with the seven other domains being explored by ACRC.

Selina Pasirayi leads ACRC's neighbourhood and district economic development domain research in Harare. With research interests in urban social movements, urban informality and urban development, she has also worked as a practitioner for civil society organisations and NGOs around resilience work, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. 

Rollins Chitika leads ACRC's neighbourhood and district economic development domain research in Lilongwe. He is a consultant with Equip Consulting Group and has a background in private sector development, project management and research.

Ademola Omoegun is a postdoctoral research fellow at the African Cities Research Consortium, working in the neighbourhood and district economic development domain.

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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:

> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
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"Beyond patrolling, beyond the police, beyond anti-terror police activities which come from a global war on terror, what are people doing every day and what have they been doing every day to keep themselves safe?"
 
In this episode, Wangui Kimari talks to Patience Adzande about the unfolding safety and security domain research in Nairobi, how she hopes it will contribute to decolonising ideas and practices for security in the city, and the importance of cross-domain coordination for achieving urban transformation.

Wangui Kimari is a  junior research fellow at the Institute for Humanities in Africa (HUMA) at the University of Cape Town, participatory action research coordinator for the Mathare Social Justice Centre (MSJC) and co-lead for ACRC's safety and security domain research in Nairobi.

Patience Adzande is a postdoctoral research fellow at the African Cities Research Consortium, working in the safety and security domain.

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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:

> Website
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"It's not our data as SDI, it's not ACRC data, it's not their data. It's the community's data. So you have to have that understanding that, at the end of the day, it has to benefit the community."

In this episode, Miriam Maina talks to Charity Mumbi and Jane Wairutu from SDI-Kenya about community-led mapping and data collection, participatory planning processes, and the role of research in inclusive urban transformation.

Charity Mumbi is an urban and regional planner and a projects officer at SDI-Kenya, supporting community-led planning, research and data management activities.

Jane Wairutu is a sociologist and programme manager at SDI-Kenya, working closely with data and project implementation teams.

Miriam Maina is from Nairobi and is a postdoctoral research fellow at the African Cities Research Consortium.

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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:

> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
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"Lagos is a city of migrants… migrants are shaping the city in ways that are evolving per day. We are where we are now as a city through the action of migrants. And, more recently, we find that the actions of migrants are changing the spatial configurations of the city, determining some of the political narratives and political ideologies as well as political practices around the city; that the actions of migrants are also determining, to a large extent, the kinds of ways wealth is being distributed across the city."

In this episode, researchers from ACRC’s Lagos team discuss how migration into the city is shaping debates around place, identity and citizenship, how it impacts on urban governance, and how the political obstacles holding back sustainable reform can be overcome.

Ismail Ibraheem is director of International Relations, Partnership and Prospects (IRPP) at the University of Lagos and uptake lead for ACRC in Lagos.

Taibat Lawanson is professor of urban management and governance at the University of Lagos and city lead for ACRC in Lagos.

Sa'eed Husaini is a research fellow at the University of Ghana, Legon and the Centre for Democracy and Development in Abuja, Nigeria, and is the political settlements lead for ACRC in Lagos.

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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:

> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
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What opportunities does urbanisation present for people living in African cities? How much does it really contribute to the economy? And what wider advantages can it have for rural dwellers?

In our latest podcast episode, Philipp Heinrigs – head of unit at the OECD – talks to Stephen Gelb about the recent Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2022 report, delving deeper into the key findings and what the analysis reveals about socioeconomic development opportunities in Africa’s fast-growing cities.

Philipp Heinrigs is head of the OECD’s Sahel and West Africa Club secretariat at the OECD and co-author of Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2022.

Stephen Gelb is a principal research fellow and team leader of the international economic development group at ODI and leads ACRC’s neighbourhood and district economic development domain research.

Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2022 is available to download via the African Development Bank, UNECA and OECD.

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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:

> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
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> X (Twitter)

"A project comes, a project leaves. The community will always remain. But now, what do you leave in that community?"

In this episode, Miriam Maina talks to Eva Muchiri and Nicera Wanjiru from Muungano wa Wanavijiji – the Kenyan federation of slum dwellers – about data collection and mapping, the importance of communities in driving research agendas and outcomes, and the legacy that programmes like ACRC leave behind in communities.

Eva Muchiri is from the informal settlement of Mathare in Nairobi and is a youth federation member and woman leader.

Nicera Wanjiru is a woman leader and community data collector and mapper from Nairobi's Kibra informal settlement.

Miriam Maina is from Nairobi and is a postdoctoral research fellow at the African Cities Research Consortium.

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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:

> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
> YouTube
> X (Twitter)