African Cities

“Sustainability for us would mean leaving behind capability and capacities, not dependency.”
In the informal settlement of Okerube in Lagos, the community faces significant challenges in accessing clean water and sanitation, which disproportionately impact women and children. An ACRC action research project is aiming to address these issues through establishing a sustainable, community-driven social enterprise model.
In this podcast episode, Deji Akinpelu is joined by guests Temilade Sesan, ACRC Lagos city manager, Funmilayo Daniel, a woman leader from Okerube community, and project co-leads Oluwaseun Muraina and Rasheed Shittu. They discuss the importance of building trust with the community, harnessing existing women-led structures to advance water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) solutions, and supporting residents to advocate for their rights, so they can actively shape their community’s future.
Highlighting how community-driven initiatives like these can challenge urban inequality – by strengthening the capacities and capabilities of residents, and advocating for greater representation of informal settlements in urban planning – they also talk about the need for collaborative planning and community ownership, to ensure sustainability over the long term. Looking beyond Okerube to other informal settlements in Lagos, they conclude by talking about what a just and sustainable future would look like for these underserved areas.
> Read more about ACRC’s work in Lagos
Deji Akinpelu is co-founder of Rethinking Cities, an advocacy group working on urban development issues in Lagos, and part of the ACRC Lagos uptake team.
Temilade Sesan is a social development researcher and ACRC’s city manager for Lagos.
Funmilayo Daniel is a woman leader from the Okerube Water Committee in Lagos.
Oluwaseun Muraina is a doctoral candidate at the Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, University of Lagos, and co-lead of the ACRC WASH action research project in Lagos.
Rasheed Shittu is the founder and executive director of the Shantytown Empowerment Foundation (SHEF) and co-lead of the ACRC WASH action research project 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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“I think one of the most important aspects that has come out of this space is creating that enabling environment where communities can interact with the state without necessarily throwing accusations at each other.”
In this episode, Chris Jordan and co-host Rosebella Apollo are joined by Harare-based practitioners George Masimba and Shiela Muganyi, from Dialogue on Shelter and Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation respectively, to explore what inclusive urban reform looks like in practice. They explore two ACRC action research projects that are currently underway in Harare – the first focused on upgrading urban markets, and the second on building climate change resilience among informal settlement communities.
Reflecting on the urban markets project, George talks about working with market associations across 13 sites in Harare, on elements including data collection, policy engagement, capacity strengthening and infrastructure upgrades. Building on an earlier project based in the Glen View 8 Furniture Complex, he explains how the action research is supporting traders to improve their livelihoods and build resilience in the face of repeated market fires. Shiela then discusses the Informal Settlements Climate Change Action (ISCCA) project, exploring how climate change has become a catalyst for informal settlement upgrading, improving tenure security and driving community-led action in low-income areas. They unpack the role of the Urban Informality Forum as a collaborative platform that brings together communities, city authorities and researchers, and talk about how it could be replicated in other African cities to drive inclusive reform.
> Read more about ACRC’s work in Harare
Chris Jordan is communications and impact manager for the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester, and ACRC's communications manager.
Rosebella Apollo is ACRC’s research uptake officer, based at the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR) in Nairobi.
George Masimba is head of programmes at Dialogue on Shelter and ACRC’s city manager for Harare.
Shiela Muganyi is a community research leader from the Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation and part of the ACRC Harare action research project on climate resilience.
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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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The housing challenge in African cities is far from consistent. With differing historical, sociopolitical and economic contexts, cities are seeing urbanisation play out along differing trajectories – impacting issues around housing demand, supply and justice.
ACRC’s housing domain co-leads Alexandre Apsan Frediani and Ola Uduku join Diana Mitlin for a conversation around housing in African cities, drawing on insights from the seven cities studied in their report: Accra, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Freetown, Lagos, Lilongwe and Nairobi.
Highlighting key issues and observations from the city research, they discuss the importance of local government engagement, the significant challenges facing low-income residents around navigating rental markets and accessing housing finance, and the need for more sustainable construction approaches and building materials.
They emphasise the value of building reform coalitions and developing collaborative research approaches in order to influence housing policy and programming at the city level, also noting the potential that leveraging global issues such as climate change could have to drive sectoral reform.
> Read more in ACRC’s housing domain report
Alexandre Apsan Frediani is a principal researcher in the human settlements group at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and co-lead of the ACRC housing domain.
Ola Uduku is head of school at the Liverpool School of Architecture and co-lead of the ACRC housing domain.
Diana Mitlin is professor of global urbanism at The University of Manchester’s Global Development Institute and CEO of ACRC.
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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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As in many cities worldwide, food production and management in Lagos is hugely complex – involving many different actors, shaped by various political dynamics and deeply intertwined with many other urban systems.
With around 80% of food consumed in Lagos brought in from outside the city, the average household faces numerous challenges to getting food onto the table. Conflicts in other parts of Nigeria can cause difficulties with transportation, which then impacts costs and produce quality. Politics within the food distribution value chain can also complicate food access, with different ethnic and gender dynamics in some city markets affecting food prices and availability. Food waste is another key issue, with efforts to manage household organic waste lagging behind similar attempts to tackle plastic waste in the city.
Yet, as Ismail Ibraheem, Taibat Lawanson, Folasade Adeboyejo and Deji Akinpelu discuss in this podcast episode, there are opportunities for improvements across the food system in Lagos, which could help make the city healthier and more liveable. From increasing local food production, as outlined in the Lagos State government’s agricultural roadmap, to building reform coalitions and implementing policies to strengthen the food waste value chain, they explore possible ways forward to enhance food systems and security in the city.
> Read more in ACRC’s Lagos city report
Ismail Ibraheem is director of International Relations, Partnership and Prospects (IRPP) at the University of Lagos and ACRC’s uptake director.
Taibat Lawanson is professor of urban management and governance at the University of Lagos, Leverhulme professor of planning and heritage at the University of Liverpool and was the Lagos city lead for ACRC’s foundation phase research.
Folasade Adeboyejo is a PhD student at the University of Plymouth
Deji Akinpelu is co-founder of Rethinking Cities, an advocacy group working on urban development issues in Lagos, and part of the ACRC Lagos uptake team.
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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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As urbanisation accelerates across Africa, cities are under growing pressure to deliver essential infrastructure and public services – such as water, sanitation, drainage and electricity. Yet this expanding responsibility is unfolding in a context where sustainable funding and reliable financing mechanisms remain limited or entirely absent, leaving many local governments struggling to meet rising demands.
So, how can African cities manage their expanding expenditure responsibilities, particularly in the face of persistent funding shortfalls? One potential solution lies in property taxation – a levy applied to the ownership, transfer or occupation of land and physical property.
Ahead of an upcoming ACRC workshop in Accra, Chris Jordan is joined by Samuel B Biitir for a conversation around the challenges and opportunities of urban property taxation in African cities. With a particular focus on the Accra context, they discuss how property taxation could help to improve essential urban infrastructure and services, the need for political buy-in, the potential benefits and blockages posed by digitalisation, and the importance of transparency when it comes to securing citizen support.
> Read more about ACRC’s urban property tax workshop in Accra
Samuel B Biitir is a senior lecturer in the Department of Land Management at SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, and led ACRC's land and connectivity domain research in Accra.
Chris Jordan is communications and impact manager for the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester, and ACRC's communications manager.
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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)