African Cities

On Tuesday 10 September 2024, Maiduguri city residents woke up to an unparalleled natural disaster: flooding that severely damaged over half of the city and resulted in the significant loss of lives. The five bridges that connect the city’s two sides overflowed, dividing it into two blocs that were unable to reach out to each other. Almost the entire lower portion of the city remained under water for over two weeks before the flood waters began to recede.The Alau Dam – situated a few kilometres away from Maiduguri city – collapsed, leading to a flood that killed an estimated 77 people and displaced 300,000. As a city still recovering from the scourge of the Boko Haram insurgency, the flood has further compounded the economic and social challenges that city residents were already facing. The victims were faced with challenges of health care, infrastructural needs, mental health and psychosocial support needs, shelter and food.In this podcast episode, Chris Jordan speaks to Babakura Bukar about the devastation caused by the floods, the factors contributing to the dam collapse and how such a disaster could be avoided in the future. > Read more in ACRC’s Maiduguri city reportBabakura Bukar was ACRC's uptake lead for Maiduguri in the foundation phase of the programme.Chris Jordan is communications and impact manager for the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester, and ACRC's communications manager.----Music: Brighter Days | Broke in SummerSounds: ZapsplatThis 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> X (Twitter)> LinkedIn> YouTube

Accra is home to around 5 million people and plays a crucial role in Ghana’s national political landscape. Located on the coast of West Africa, development trajectories of the city are significantly influenced by national and global events.More than two thirds of the population are estimated to reside in informal settlements, with a great diversity of cultures and ethnicities across communities. Many of these areas have no or unreliable access to essential services including water, electricity and sanitation, and significant levels of inequality exist among different neighbourhoods.In this episode, Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai joins Chris Jordan to talk about the major findings from ACRC’s urban development research in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area. He discusses how the city has changed over the last 25 years, including shifting geographical boundaries, along with the slow progress being made towards addressing Accra’s significant housing deficit and improving service delivery in disadvantaged areas.He notes how attitudes towards informal settlement residents and their needs are slowly changing, with some evidence to suggest that national and city elites are making efforts to enhance basic services in settlements like Old Fadama. Delving into insights from the city research into the political dynamics at play in Accra, he also highlights the importance of the city to national elites – largely due to its significant urban population and position as a swing voting city – and the need for greater cooperation and capacity building among city authorities to drive meaningful urban transformation.> Read more in ACRC’s Accra city reportAbdul-Gafaru Abdulai is an associate professor in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Ghana Business School, an honorary research fellow at the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester and ACRC's Accra city lead.Chris Jordan is communications and impact manager for the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester, and ACRC's communications manager.----Music: Brighter Days | Broke in SummerSounds: ZapsplatThis 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> X (Twitter)> LinkedIn> YouTube

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 reportIsmail 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. ----Music: Brighter Days | Broke in SummerSounds: ZapsplatThis 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> X (Twitter)> LinkedIn> YouTube

“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 readingLalitha Kamath | Coalitions and urban transformation: Contributions and limitsDiana Mitlin | The contribution of reform coalitions to inclusion and equity: lessons from urban social movements ----Music: Brighter Days | Broke in SummerSounds: ZapsplatThis 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> X (Twitter)> LinkedIn> YouTube