Working together for urban progress
The African Cities Research Consortium is a collaborative approach to tackling complex problems in the continent’s rapidly changing cities.
About the AFRICAN CITIES RESEARCH CONSORTIUM
Cities are complex, dynamic, political systems. We bring together the right people and an understanding of the political economy of individual cities to identify and address the critical challenges they are facing.
Our aim is to generate insights and evidence that will help improve the living conditions, services and life chances of all city residents, particularly for disadvantaged communities.
LATEST NEWS from ACRC
Podcast: The value of cross-city learning exchanges
ACRC city managers Jack Makau and Temilade Sesan join Tom Goodfellow to talk about the action research that’s underway in their cities, along with how urban communities in informal settlements can build power through their own forms of knowledge and data collection, and how two-way exchanges between cities can strengthen this process.
Supporting community responses to kush in Freetown: Next steps
Although ACRC’s funding of action research in Freetown on the synthetic drug, kush, came to an end in September 2025, its legacy continues. There is ongoing work to address the challenges of reducing kush use, building on the gains of the action research.
Unpacking the complexity of informal urban land governance in Kisenyi informal settlement, Kampala
During ACRC’s foundation phase, the Kampala land and connectivity domain research revealed how relevant and critical local councils (LCs) are in land transfers, especially in informal settlements. To deepen our understanding of this challenge, we are conducting action research in Kisenyi informal settlement in Kampala.
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