We are excited to share that ACRC will be co-hosting a plenary session and running a side event at the inaugural Africa Urban Forum, which will be hosted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 4-6 September 2024.
Convened by the African Union, the Forum aims to promote sustainable development in African human settlements. This year’s event is centred around the theme of “sustainable urbanisation for Africa’s transformation: Agenda 2063”.
As part of the plenary proceedings, ACRC will co-host a session on using research to catalyse urban reform, in partnership with the Ethiopian Civil Service University. Consortium members will also host a side event, presenting insights into advancing inclusive housing in African cities.
Achieving affordable and resilient housing systems (side event)
5 September | 7:30-9:00 EAT
This side event will explore key housing challenges in African cities and opportunities to improve provision of inclusive, affordable housing. Chaired by Ismail Ibraheem, ACRC’s uptake director, the session will enable participants to gain a better understanding of the current dynamics underpinning housing, informal settlements and land systems within a range of African cities.
As a result of unprecedented urban growth across Africa, the provision of decent, affordable and inclusive housing is a major priority for cities. Building on recent ACRC research findings in the domains of housing, informal settlements and land and connectivity, this event will explore how African cities are currently dealing with housing challenges including the scale of policy reform to support upgrading – and help identify where potential solutions may be found to take policy intent into programming.
In addition to understanding some of the systemic problems underpinning housing provision, we will explore the approaches, policies and practices that have proven effective at addressing issues, along with practical changes that city authorities could adopt to create inclusive and affordable housing.
The event will feature speakers from across ACRC who have been working closely with local researchers and communities in efforts to unpack the complex urban housing landscape in a number of cities.
Speakers
- Chair: Ismail Ibraheem (Director, Office of International Relations Partnerships and Prospects, University of Lagos)
- Ezana Amdework (Researcher, Forum for Social Studies in Addis Ababa)
- Paul Currie (Director, Urban Systems, ICLEI Africa)
- Nancy Njoki (Vice Chair, Muungano wa Wanavijiji)
- Joseph Kimani (Executive Director, SDI-Kenya)
Towards a more inclusive housing future
With plenty of time built into the agenda for questions, comments and discussion, we will be encouraging event participants to share their own insights, observations and experiences with us.
By the end of the session, we hope that attendees will be better equipped to identify successful strategies for informal settlement upgrading, establish ways to improve the city governance of housing policy, and recognise the role that land practices and connectivity play in the provision of sustainable and equitable housing.
Unlocking the role of research and academia in shaping sustainable and resilient cities (plenary session)
6 September | 11:00-12:30 EAT
This plenary panel session will be co-hosted with the Ethiopian Civil Service University and will also be chaired by Diana Mitlin. It will aim to highlight the practical benefits of including researchers in urban transformation, particularly in convening planners, practitioners, politicians and communities.
With the fastest urban growth rates in the world, African governments and city leaders are facing unprecedented urbanisation challenges. More than half of the continent’s urban residents live in informal settlements and rates of unemployment are even higher. Across African cities, there is a critical need to better understand the systems and processes underlying this rapid urbanisation – and to address the issues it creates.
To achieve SDG 11 – sustainable cities and communities – new and innovative partnerships and approaches are urgently needed. Research and knowledge generation processes have the potential to help governments, planners and citizens to address challenges in urban areas.
This session will highlight how expertise and insights within the research community can be harnessed to deal with potentially contentious issues in African cities. Drawing on a range of examples, speakers will explore how research processes can be used to make cities and human settlements more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The panel will highlight success stories, including how researchers, city officials and communities have collaborated to develop innovative solutions to housing, tenure and infrastructural issues. It will also look at the crucial – but often overlooked – role of community knowledge in driving urban reform.
Speakers
- Chair: Diana Mitlin (CEO of ACRC and professor of global urbanism at The University of Manchester)
- Nancy Njoki (Vice Chair, Muungano wa Wanavijiji)
- Ismail Ibraheem (Director, Office of International Relations Partnerships and Prospects, University of Lagos)
- Meggan Spires (Director, Climate Change: Energy and Resilience, South Africa, ICLEI Africa)
- Degu Bekele (Dean, College of Urban Development and Engineering, Ethiopian Civil Service University)
- Daniel Lirebo (Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Development, Ethiopian Civil Service University
Ultimately, we hope that the panel session and discussion will inspire interest among African leaders to think about how inclusive research processes can drive forward urban development interventions, especially by unlocking the vast knowledge already held within communities.
Header photo credit: Hannah van Rooyen. Diana Mitlin addressing ACRC members at the 2023 consortium-wide meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
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