By Deji Akinpelu

On a plot of land in Ajegunle-Ikorodu, Lagos that could easily have become another illegal dumping site, something different is taking shape. Plastic bottles that once ended up in nearby drainages can now be traded for cash, while food waste is being turned into compost and used to support an urban farm.

The transformation began with an important question: what actually happens to the waste generated by households and vendors in an informal community where formal collection services do not consistently reach?

Ajegunle-Ikorodu’s waste challenge was also an evidence gap

Recent statements by the Lagos State officials indicate that the volume of waste generated in Lagos may now be closer to 17,000 tonnes of waste daily, up from the 13,000 tonnes usually cited by the State. With much of this waste ending up in landfills, the State Government is exploring ways to promote source separation and recover value from waste through waste-to-wealth and waste-to-energy initiatives. However, far less is known about the volume of waste generated within communities, particularly in informal settlements where the potential for recovery and reuse may be significant.

The baseline study focuses on Ajegunle-Ikorodu, a low-income informal settlement in Kosofe, Lagos, and sets out to close part of that gap by conducting rigorous household surveys through citizen mobilisation, identifying existing waste practices and service providers and quantifying waste generated within the community from households and food vendors.

The study was undertaken by Rethinking Cities in partnership with the Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development (CHSD), University of Lagos, with support from the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC).

The baseline results showed both service gaps and a local waste economy

The results showed the scale of the challenge. 67% of households reported no access to the formal collection trucks. This gap sits within a formal collection system coordinated by Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and delivered through Private Sector Partnership (PSP) operators. Many residents therefore rely on burning, open dumping and scavengers (abokis). Meanwhile, 59% of respondents reported experiencing flooding monthly or more during the rainy season, highlighting issues relevant to the ongoing climate resilience project in the community.

During Focus Group Discussions, participants linked the flooding to waste disposal practices, including dumping waste in canals and drainages and using it to fill potholes. Yet the data also revealed an existing waste economy: 70% of households already sold recyclables to informal collectors, and 65% earned some income from doing so, with some reporting monthly earnings of up to N30,000.

The baseline was designed to understand these realities with the community members. Community Waste Investigators, many of them members of the local SDI Federation, were trained to participate directly in data collection. They led a structured survey of 303 households across the neighbouring Ajegunle, Irawo and Thomas Community Development Associations (CDAs). Five focus group discussions brought together landlords, tenants, women, youth and informal waste pickers, while key informant interviews with CDA leaders added further context.

The findings were subsequently shared with community members and stakeholders at a community engagement that brought together the ACRC Lagos team, government representatives, civil society organisations and residents. The study and its findings also received coverage from The Guardian, THISDAY, Development Reporting and The CHSD.

Community research turned findings into a working integrated circular economy hub 

The result was more than a dataset. The study found an estimated 85% willingness to participate in a better waste management system, creating an opportunity to move from evidence to action. A five-day physical waste audit then sorted 619kg of waste from 161 samples across 16 locations within the community.

The community waste quantification became the basis for an Integrated Circular Economy Hub or Green Hub on a site that had been on its way to becoming another illegal dumping ground. The community leader (Baale) decided to donate the used land space to prototype the project.

The space became open to construct a hub for the Community Waste Investigators to operate, bringing together recycling, composting and urban farming in one community-managed space. Its recycling stream receives materials including plastic bottles, nylons, paper and metals, creating a route for recoverable materials to re-enter the market.

Food waste, specifically fruit and vegetable peels are channelled into composting, while the urban farm reuses recovered plastic for farm structures and irrigation. Crops are also  grown in sacks using compost to support the growing cycle. Together, these activities demonstrate how materials that would otherwise be discarded can be recovered and redirected into productive uses.

More importantly, the hub makes the waste system visible.

Residents can see what is separated, where recyclable materials go, how organic waste is processed and how recovered materials can support other community activities. This creates a practical space for learning, testing ideas and building local capacity, while also generating evidence on what is feasible in a dense, underserved settlement. The aim is not to treat the hub as a standalone facility, but as part of a wider system of community action, market linkages and institutional engagement.

The hub is managed by members of the original Community Waste Investigators, who have since become Community Waste Champions. The Association of Scrap and Waste Pickers of Lagos (ASWOL) provides technical guidance on plastics pricing and marketing, while community leaders and government stakeholders have demonstrated buy-in. This early involvement has helped ground the model in local ownership and create connections between community practice and formal institutions.

New evidence is reshaping where the project goes next

The experience of the hub is already influencing the project’s next phase. Phase One analysis demonstrated that 80% of collected food waste originated from just 20% of collection points, primarily commercial food vendors who produce cleaner waste streams. As a result, Phase Two will focus collection resources on vendor clusters, while redirecting household efforts towards education on home composting for small-scale farming.

The team will also strengthen the integration of informal waste pickers, many of whom are from Northern Nigeria with farming backgrounds, into the hub’s recovery system, linking their existing role in collecting recyclables and their farming experience with more organised collection and market access. 

Alongside this, the team is considering faster composting methods, including black soldier fly larvae composting, which could reduce processing time and create a potential marketable feed product. Then, a farm-to-table model through the urban farm.

In parallel, proposed standard guidelines for developing and operating Green Hubs will draw on technical oversight from the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with other stakeholders, while the team explores how hub data could connect to carbon and plastic credit opportunities.

From one community to a wider model for Lagos

The model has begun gaining momentum beyond the community. Representatives from various government ministries, departments and agencies have visited the site, including officials from the Office of Climate Change and Circular Economy, the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, the Lagos State Resilience Office, as well other institutions like the Resilient Cities Network, C40 Cities, Lagos Urban Development Initiative, amongst others.

A stakeholders engagement hosted by Heinrich Böll Stiftung brought civil society and government stakeholders together, while the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources has committed financial support towards efforts to replicate the model in Ojokoro and Amuwo Odofin while also collaborating with the team to host a programme for World Cleanup Day.

 The initiative sits within a broader shift in Lagos towards waste sorting at source, organic waste processing, methane reduction and the circular economy. Its contribution is to add community-generated model and practical experience to that vision.

What began as a study of how waste moves through Ajegunle-Ikorodu is becoming a model for exploring how community residents, informal actors, researchers and government can work together to recover materials, improve local systems and develop responses that can be adapted elsewhere.

Photo credits: Deji Akinpelu 

Note: This article presents the views of the author featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Old Fadama is a low-lying settlement along the Odaw river in Ghana’s capital city. The area is prone to flooding, which is made worse when waste blocks drainage channels, bringing with it waterborne diseases.

Accra generates around 1,500 tonnes of solid waste per day, but only about 55% is collected, usually in higher income areas of the city. Hawa and the residents of Old Fadama are often left to fend for themselves, with large amounts dumped in the rivers and lagoon, or burned.

Better cities. Built together.

But communities aren’t standing idle. Building on the long-term organising of local savings groups supported by SDI, residents are creating livelihoods and value out of the city’s waste issue.

Since the film was shot, ACRC has been helping Hawa’s group to create a community composting facility on a piece of land donated by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly. Group members source organic waste from the markets and households to create compost, which they plan to sell – reinvesting any profits into further developing the community.

We’re also backing the efforts of informal motorised waste transporters – widely known as “borla taxis” – to receive formal recognition of the vital role they play at the interface of the informal and formal waste systems.

While the job they do is critical, a lack of regulatory framework and acknowledgement perpetuates stigma and makes it impossible for them to bid for formal government contracts. By strengthening the Borla Taxi Association, we’re helping young men who have often migrated to the city to create better livelihoods for themselves, while improving services for all of Accra’s residents.    

Urban October aims to celebrate the people and initiatives creating better cities together.

We’re thrilled to highlight the experiences, challenges and insights of Hawa and her fellow residents of Old Fadama as they build a better life and a better city.

Read more:

• ACRC’s action research projects in Accra were based on extensive scoping research that examined the city systems and politics, alongside the issues of housing, informal settlements, land and economic development. Read the full report.
• A more detailed summary of our action research projects focused on waste in Accra can be found here.
• More information about our work in Accra is available on our city page.

Header photo credit: Know Your City TV

Note: This article presents the views of the author featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Tell me about your role in ACRC and what you’re working on at the moment?

So I’m Tom Goodfellow and I’m coming into the role of CEO of the African Cities Research Consortium, which means I’ll be working alongside our fabulous senior management team in the consortium – located in various parts of the world – to lead the consortium into the next phase of its work, as we get a load of action research projects to completion, deliver outputs and start thinking about learning between our many projects, which are taking place in seven cities across Africa.

Some of the things I’ve been doing recently particularly are around getting some of the last action research projects in our portfolio to the point where they’re finalised and ready to go, because some of them are only just starting. That includes for example new projects to secure land rights for communities in Kampala in Uganda – building on an earlier study we’re trying to really roll that out on the ground. We’ve got projects around school feeding in Nairobi, trying to ensure that children in informal schools across the city can have access to food. Also, there’s work going on in Lagos, for example, around much more equitable models of property taxation for low-income communities in the city. So those are some of the projects that we’re working to get off the ground.

And I’m also excited because we’ve got a new area of work emerging around rural–urban migration and other kinds of migration into cities, and through this we’re really trying to get a better understanding of mobility patterns in the context of the African cities we work in.

How did you get into urban development?

Well, that’s a very interesting question as it’s not something I necessarily anticipated, having not really studied cities or even geography earlier in my kind of life and career! But I became interested partly through a friend’s mum, who was an academic working on cities in South Africa after apartheid. And I got interested in how cities, particularly divided cities and conflict-affected cities, overcome those kinds of things. And through that work, I ended up doing a PhD, where I was looking at post-conflict cities and rapidly growing cities in post-conflict environments, particularly in Uganda and Rwanda, which is where I did my PhD research.

So I became really interested in cities in Africa in the context of rapid growth, how you manage issues around land and infrastructure and housing in that context. And then from there, I ended up doing more comparative work with colleagues in different parts of Africa, and that leads me to where I am. So it was kind of an accident when I ended up doing a little bit of a favour for a friend’s mum, helping her out with some stuff she was writing for a publication, and just got hooked.

What’s interesting about the ACRC approach?

There are so many interesting things. It’s quite challenging to choose just one. I won’t say anything here about a particular project or a particular theme of the work we do, but one thing that I’m finding really interesting is how projects spin out from something that can be quite small on the ground. It can be a particular site where there’s waste recycling, or it can be one particular part of a neighbourhood where some drains are being put in, and how this kind of small project can spin out into this large network of committed organisations and individuals to get this thing to work, to get this thing to really bring a change.

It grows from something small into something much bigger in terms of all the people who have to be involved and you can see the energy growing, whether it’s government agencies getting involved, communities themselves, organisations they work with, and you start to see those systemic interactions: how waste and climate resilience and water and sanitation all connect to each other through this one small project initially. So I think that’s what I’m really learning: how we see change spinning out from particular sites or particular issues into wider, more systemic forms of change.

What ACRC paper, blog or podcast do you most recommend?

Well, there are many that I recommend and we’ve got this very vibrant blog series, so I do hope that people keep an eye on that because blogs come through very regularly that really showcase the action research projects on the ground. That’s the best way to see what’s happening. We also have many project reports in the pipeline, as most of our reports about the active action research are yet to come, although we have many really interesting studies already online as well.

I’m quite keen on podcasts, not least because I also get involved in making them sometimes, and one that was really interesting to me was when I had a conversation with two of our city managers, Jack Makau in Nairobi and Temilade Sesan in Lagos. They were talking about how they learned from each other and how their cities learned from each other. That’s come out and been put out recently through the African Cities podcast. I do recommend that for people who are interested in that kind of transnational, translocal learning about how urban change happens.

How can cities drive progress?

Very good question – I’m mostly obviously interested in what all of our partners based in the cities we work in have to say about that in their own cities. But thinking across the whole set and the wider issues, I think we see cities learning a lot from each other, in two ways, very obviously. On the one hand, you see city governments and national governments learning about how to market their cities for investment, to sort of position them within regional and global orders as kind of sites of modernity and investment. And there’s a lot of learning that happens there. And secondly there’s a lot of learning that happens between communities about how to try and assert their rights.

What I’d like to see more of, I think, is something in between, which is really about municipalities and city governments learning from each other – not just about how to market and get investment, but about how to really realise the value of their populations, how to work effectively with communities in ways that actually helps to enhance the city without undermining community rights. Because we do see rights being undermined in some of our cities. This is about learning not just between the big cities but also the smaller cities and the secondary cities where most of the growth is happening, to really see more of those cities leading the way sharing examples, as well as learning from bigger ones, so that we get a sense that smaller cities are also celebrated and we can see the innovation happening there. I mean, I’m based in the city of Sheffield, which in the UK is one of those smaller cities, so I often think about how we could be engaging with and learning with smaller places as well.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Well, it’s interesting because you asked about how I got into urban development, and I didn’t mention this but the friend whose mum got me interested in African cities – she herself was South African – I was in a band with her son and used to play music a lot. Since having children and having a different kind of life for a while, I’ve kind of lost the habit, but I’m getting a bit more into it again now – not least because my children are really interested in music and play quite a few musical instruments between them. So I’ve been getting back into that and making use of the fact that we have more musical instruments around the house. So that’s been nice.

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Header photo credit: Chris Jordan

Note: This article presents the views of the author featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Tell us a bit about your background…

I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, where I studied architecture at The University of Lagos. This raised my curiosity about the urban environment, motivating me to undertake a master’s degree in urban planning at The University of Manchester and subsequently a PhD in urban planning and international development at Cardiff University. I was particularly keen to study urban planning in the United Kingdom as the planning systems in Nigeria and many other African countries have British origins.

After my PhD, I returned to the University of Lagos as a lecturer and in 2018, I took a position as a postdoctoral researcher at the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town. A key lesson I have learnt over the years and which I am passionate to communicate through my work is the vital importance of understanding, learning from and adapting to the realities on the ground when thinking about African cities – rather than having an overreliance on foreign perspectives.

How would you explain your research to a friend or family member?

My research fundamentally seeks to understand how and why the majority of African urban residents are largely excluded from available economic opportunities, whilst only a small section benefit. This situation can be seen in the high levels of inequality and fragmentation evident in many African cities. More specifically, my research explores the experiences of the numerous residents of informal settlements and those working in the informal economy, such as street traders, waste-pickers, small-scale tailors, hairdressers and roadside mechanical services – who are a dominant feature of many African cities – and examining their largely negative experiences and non-inclusion in urban and economic plans. My work seeks to understand the challenges they face and propose ways in which their work can be better appreciated, included and scaled up to make a valuable contribution to the local economy – whilst continuing to provide important employment and livelihood opportunities to a large share of the urban population.

What does your role within ACRC entail?

As part of ACRC, I belong to the neighbourhood and district economic development domain, where I have the opportunity to contribute to research on household microenterprises (HMEs). These are informal businesses employing the entrepreneur either alone, or together with members of their household, and for which the home often plays an important role in the enterprise’s activities. Some key objectives of the domain include examining how HMEs’ productivity and profitability can be increased, how they can become more economically viable as businesses, and how they can build resilience to climate change and environmental disaster.

I am also conducting my own research on urban displacements cutting across evictions from informal settlements and markets in Lagos, Nigeria. Specifically, I am investigating the factors that underlie such displacements and their effects on low-income residents who are often the most affected – including how they cope in the aftermath of such evictions, and how they can better organise to communicate to authorities the challenges that displacements pose to their lives and livelihoods.

“What particularly excites me about this research fellowship is the focus of ACRC to inform better decisionmaking by urban policymakers and reformers in Africa, based on an understanding of the political economy of individual cities and partnership with local actors on the ground.”

What are you finding most interesting about your work with ACRC so far? What are you most excited about?

What I have found most interesting so far is the opportunity to engage with various prominent scholars on African urban development as well as interact directly with specialists based across a variety of African cities, who provide first hand updates on happenings across diverse contexts. What particularly excites me about this research fellowship is the focus of ACRC to inform better decisionmaking by urban policymakers and reformers in Africa, based on an understanding of the political economy of individual cities and partnership with local actors on the ground. This is because political and economic factors play a major role in urban decisionmaking, especially in Africa, yet they are often inadequately considered and local actors are vital to understanding important contextual peculiarities that can hinder change. Therefore, I find this combined focus of ACRC particularly exciting.

In fewer than five words, what one issue do you think needs to be prioritised to improve urban development in African cities?

Better inclusion of disadvantaged communities.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I enjoy spending time with family and friends, listening to music and engaging in sports.

Note: This article presents the views of the author featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Tell us a bit about your background…

My name is Patience Adzande and I was born and raised in Nigeria. I obtained a PhD in urban and regional planning from the Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria in 2017. During my PhD study, I received the Dissertation Research Fellowship (2013) and the Dissertation Completion Fellowship Award (2014) from the Social Science Research Council’s (SSRC) Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa programme. In 2017, I also received the SSRC’s African Peacebuilding Network grant to conduct research on farmer-herder conflicts in Central Nigeria.

Before joining ACRC, I was a lecturer at the Benue State University. My research interest in crime and the built environment was motivated by the works of Jane Jacobs and Oscar Newman. However, my decision to focus on broader issues of human security became imperative with increasing conflict and violence in rural and urban areas of Nigeria. Currently, my research focuses on the influence of the built environment on crime patterns; residents’ experiences of safety and (in)security in cities; informal policing in cities; the role of conflict/violence in re-configuring urban spaces and shaping lived experiences in cities; the lived experiences of internally displaced people (IDPs) in non-camp situations; and farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria.

How would you explain your research to a friend or family member?

My research focuses on the spatial dynamics of crime and violence in cities from an urban planning perspective and at contestations over natural resources in rural areas of Nigeria; looking at:

• How different kinds of spaces influence the occurrence or clustering of crime, and enhance perceptions of safety;
• Why certain urban spaces are safer than others;
• How urban spaces are re-configured by conflicts or violence and how the lives of city residents are (re)shaped by violence – in terms of residential location choices, decisions on intra-urban mobility and perceptions of the “other”;
• Rural insecurity in Central Nigeria, with particular emphasis on farmer-herder conflicts and its attendant consequences;
• The lived experiences of urban displaced persons – particularly focusing on their ability (agency) to navigate their new environments.

I focus on human security because safety and security are central to the attainment of liveable and inclusive cities. With the forecasts suggesting that Africa is fast becoming an urban continent, it has become necessary to intensify research on safety and security, to contribute to the development of policies and planning interventions that will make African cities safe for all.

What does your role within ACRC entail?

As a postdoctoral fellow attached to ACRC’s safety and security domain, I’ll work with the domain leads, city leads and other team members to sharpen the focus of the domain’s research in the selected cities, also ensuring that the workplans and themes are synchronised and aligned. I’ll also liaise with and provide support to the city research leads and projects, and contribute knowledge based on my past experiences of conducting research on human security issues. I will also be contributing to the academic aspect of the research by conducting literature reviews on relevant research themes and writing academic articles, blog posts and reports – and possibly featuring in podcasts to support uptake and dissemination of our work.

“I’m happy to be a part of a team committed to contributing to policy formulation, through generating evidence-based knowledge on African cities.”

What are you finding most interesting about your work with ACRC so far? What are you most excited about?

What I’m finding most interesting in my work with ACRC so far is gaining new knowledge – especially using political settlements as an analytical framework for critical urban development issues, observing the research that the other postdoctoral fellows are conducting, and learning more about (and looking forward to visiting) other African cities covered by ACRC. I’m happy to be a part of a team committed to contributing to policy formulation, through generating evidence-based knowledge on African cities.

The opportunity that ACRC has provided for me to meet and work with scholars that I would ordinarily only read about in the literature is something I’m excited about – particularly having the chance to work with Paula Meth, who will serve as my mentor during the period of the fellowship. Working with ACRC also affords me the opportunity to actualise my dream of expanding the scope of my research beyond Nigeria to other African cities.

In fewer than five words, what one issue do you think needs to be prioritised to improve urban development in African cities?

Safety and security.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I enjoy watching movies and spending quality time with friends and family.

Note: This article presents the views of the author featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Tell us a bit about your background…

I did my undergraduate and postgraduate studies in sociology and development studies at Addis Ababa University (AAU), and I also have an MSc in urban management and development from the Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS). I then worked as an academic project coordinator and a lecturer at Ethiopian public universities, before deciding to pursue my education further, and was awarded a PhD in planning and environmental management from The University of Manchester. Since finishing my PhD, I have been working at The University of Manchester in different capacities – previously as a course unit lecturer, GCRF visiting postdoctoral fellow and most recently as a research associate in the African Cities Research Consortium. 

How would you explain your research to a friend or family member?

My research focuses on critically understanding the political processes shaping urban development. Conventional urban planning is presented as an apolitical and technical process, used to efficiently organise modern cities. Yet in practice, it prioritises the interests of political and business elites, while marginalising the majority urban poor, especially in the global South. But these marginalised groups are not passive victims of the process; they strategise to survive and expand their opportunities. So, my research broadly focuses on understanding the political and economic forces that adversely affect urban poor communities and how they respond to their exclusion. I also want my research to contribute to the efforts of these groups in challenging their marginalisation. For example, my GCRF-funded postdoctoral research – influenced by Slum Dwellers International – facilitated women-led, saving-based social organisation and participatory research in one of Addis Ababa’s inner-city settlements.

What does your role within ACRC entail?

Within ACRC, I have a dual responsibility. First, I am responsible for supporting the research on crosscutting themes (finance, gender and climate change) and other broad aspects of ACRC work. Second, I am also working on my own research project, which compares and contrasts how informal settlement residents mobilise and strategise to improve their housing and living conditions in Harare and Addis Ababa. The study aims to capture how social organisations of informal settlement residents capitalise on the political opportunities and minimise threats from their respective governments, in their effort to improve their housing and living conditions.

“My research broadly focuses on understanding the political and economic forces that adversely affect urban poor communities and how they respond to their exclusion. I also want my research to contribute to the efforts of these groups in challenging their marginalisation.”

What are you finding most interesting about your work with ACRC so far? What are you most excited about?

The most exciting thing about my fellowship at ACRC is the opportunity of collaborating with accomplished and emerging researchers in their field. For an early career researcher, such as myself, ACRC provides an ideal platform for learning, building networks and expanding my research scope. Working within such a transdisciplinary research environment allows me to expand my analytical lens and adopt a comparative research approach, while the mentorship scheme within my fellowship will help me shape my academic career strategically. Last but not least, working alongside young and enthusiastic ACRC fellows is great for building collegiality and we all help to motivate each other.

In a few words, what one issue do you think needs to be prioritised to improve urban development in African cities?

Planning with, not against, disadvantaged communities.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I enjoy walking/hiking, reading books and socialising with friends, along with watching movies, TV shows and documentaries in my spare time.

Note: This article presents the views of the author featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Tell us a bit about your background…

My background is in law. I lectured and practised law in Kenya prior to undertaking my PhD, which I recently completed at Cardiff University. My research is transdisciplinary, focusing on rights-based approaches to development, particularly integrating participation in urban governance. I am also interested in understanding how land in the city can be unlocked to provide for the needs of the city’s inhabitants, especially the most vulnerable and marginalised groups.

How would you explain your research to a friend or family member?

I examine the institutions and actors that play key roles in shaping the outlook of our cities. My research identifies the instances where, and the reasons why, these actors come together to explore solutions to urban challenges, and the interventions they devise to tackle the identified challenges. I am particularly keen on exploring the visions for change these actors project – are they inclusive of the inhabitants of marginalised urban neighbourhoods? And what do they mean for access to land and basic services in informal settlements?

What does your role within ACRC entail?

At ACRC, I support the work of the informal settlements domain. The domain seeks to understand the political economy and politics of informal settlement development. We aim to understand the growth trajectories of informal settlements in African cities and to examine the drivers of their growth. We also explore the ways in which organised communities seek to address the needs of informal settlements at the city scale. I will also work on my individual project, which examines the urban governance interventions that have been rolled out in Nairobi in the periods between 1980-2022.

“It is interesting to see how ACRC is building strong, horizontal collaborations with a diverse range of research partners and how the process makes a conscious effort to centre the voices of marginalised urban communities.”

What are you finding most interesting about your work with ACRC so far? What are you most excited about?

ACRC brings together expertise from various institutions and African countries. It is interesting to see how ACRC is building strong, horizontal collaborations with a diverse range of research partners and how the process makes a conscious effort to centre the voices of marginalised urban communities. I am also excited to work with and learn from an incredible team of urbanists who are working together to tackle complex problems in Africa’s rapidly urbanising cities.

In fewer than five words, what one issue do you think needs to be prioritised to improve urban development in African cities?

Democratising urban governance.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

When the weather is good, you will find me going for a walk, a run in the park, or spending time outdoors with friends. I love watching insightful documentaries and reading a good book.

Note: This article presents the views of the author featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Tell us a bit about your background…

Originally from South Africa, where I was based until my postgraduate studies, I completed a PhD focusing on urban and labour economics topics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to and during my PhD, I consulted for the World Bank on spatial economics, industrial policy and infrastructure planning in Indonesia, South Africa and Bangladesh.

Before joining ACRC, I was a senior postdoctoral associate at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, where I focused on technology policy research and research at the intersection of urban economics and big data.

How would you explain your research to a friend or family member?

My research uses digitised satellite imagery as well as survey and administrative data, together with statistical methods aimed at establishing cause–effect relationships, to examine questions related to pressing public policy issues in cities in developing countries. I am interested in topics such as the effects of zoning regulations on land value capture and the interactions between labour market policies and climate shocks. I am starting new research related to the political economy of land use policies for structural transformation in African cities. Unrelated to ACRC, I also carry out research on how to improve the measurement of digital development.

What does your role within ACRC entail?

Along with conducting my own research related to land use policies, I am also mapped to the structural transformation domain. This involves collaborating with researchers at UNU-WIDER in Helsinki, who I had the pleasure of visiting for a week recently.

“The cross-disciplinary nature of ACRC makes it particularly interesting. The University of Manchester is also a vibrant hub for development and urban research.”

What are you finding most interesting about your work with ACRC so far? What are you most excited about?

The cross-disciplinary nature of ACRC makes it particularly interesting. The University of Manchester is also a vibrant hub for development and urban research.

In fewer than five words, what one issue do you think needs to be prioritised to improve urban development in African cities?

Planning should consider economics issues.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I run a lot and have been training for some races. There are some nice routes along the river in Manchester.

Note: This article presents the views of the author featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Tell us a bit about your background…

I was born in Nyeri, Kenya but I grew up in Nairobi. My training is in town planning, first at the University of Nairobi, and then at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. I have worked in urban and housing research organisations in Nairobi and Johannesburg, including the Centre for Urban Research Innovations at the University of Nairobi, the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa in Johannesburg, and the NRF Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

From my life in Nairobi and through working in these organisations, I have developed an interest and passion for African cities, and so my research focuses on the role of urban planning in shaping the development trajectory of African towns and cities.

How would you explain your research to a friend or family member?

I study towns and cities in Africa, focusing on housing, neighbourhoods and local economies. I try to understand how towns come together – where we live, where we work, where our children play and go to school, the markets where we buy our food, how we move from place to place.

I am interested in how all the different actors from governments, big and small investors, and we as city residents work together to create safe, beautiful and liveable spaces. As a town planner, I try to think about how we can use laws, policies and resources/funding to coordinate investments and produce towns and cities that are accessible to all.

What does your role within ACRC entail?

My role in ACRC is to provide support in the housing and human settlements domain. This involves coordinating the different city research projects, liaising with research teams in our cities. Our first phase of cities includes Nairobi, Freetown, Lilongwe and Accra. I am also working on my own research project on urban planning and nodal development in the Nairobi metropolitan project.

“I am excited about what we can learn across the different cities and focus areas that can support local efforts at advocacy or formulating workable policies and programmes.”

What are you finding most interesting about your work with ACRC so far? What are you most excited about?

The most interesting opportunity that the ACRC work has provided me is to understand how different towns and cities in Africa are developing. I am learning that the challenges facing housing and human settlements development are very similar across our cities, although there are specific differences in each city. I am excited about what we can learn across the different cities and focus areas that can support local efforts at advocacy or formulating workable policies and programmes.

The fellowship is also bringing together different researchers from across Africa, who are working on other domains, such as land and connectivity, informal settlements, urban safety and security, youth and capabilities, structural transformation, local and neighbourhood economies, and health, wellbeing and nutrition. I am very excited to participate in this multisectoral community, and I look forward to learning more from my fellow colleagues.

In fewer than five words, what one issue do you think needs to be prioritised to improve urban development in African cities?

Adapting and scaling-up local solutions.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A few things! I like to be outdoors, if the weather is nice, and I enjoy playing sports or learning a new sport. If I am indoors, I like drawing cartoons, reading books and comics, watching a nice sci-fi show, or playing video games. I also enjoy socialising with friends and family.

Note: This article presents the views of the author featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Tell us a bit about your background…

My name is Abdifatah Ismael Tahir, and I am a research fellow at the Global Development Institute, working on the exciting African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC). In my most recent work, I served as a member of Somalia’s federal parliament, where I chaired the committee for roads, ports, airports, energy and transport.

Before this, I worked as a researcher, consultant and development practitioner for various organisations in Somalia, UK and South Africa. I hold a PhD in geography (urban governance) from the University of Sussex and a master’s degree in transport planning from the University of Leeds.

How would you explain your research to a friend or family member?

Generally, my work is geared towards understanding the key and often context-specific urban politics and governance issues, both in contemporary and historical perspectives, that enhance or undermine the current and future dynamics of Somalia’s nascent state-building endeavours. In my most recent work, I looked at critical infrastructures as sites for state legitimation in the post-conflict context of Somaliland.

I have also examined the production and reproduction of clan-based segregation in Hargeisa. As a process, I found that it is partially explainable by the state’s inability to provide services in a manner that creates cosmopolitan attitudes above the dominant clan identity and belonging.    

In my current research, I am looking at the land conflict and adjudication issues in Mogadishu, particularly the ongoing political (dis)settlement at the national and subnational (regional) levels.

What does your role within ACRC entail?

My role in ACRC is twofold. Firstly, I research urban land conflicts in Mogadishu, focusing on how non-state actors adjudicate land and property-related disputes and how these impacts political (dis)settlement at the national and sub-national levels. And, second, I support research in the land and connectivity domain across the cities identified by the ACRC project.

“One of the things that excites me about this project is that it brings together some of the most prominent scholars on African urban issues and a team of emerging African scholars.”

What are you finding most interesting about your work with ACRC so far? What are you most excited about?

One of the things that excites me about this project is that it brings together some of the most prominent scholars on African urban issues and a team of emerging African scholars. Besides the privilege of being in dialogue and discussion with such a strong team of urbanists, I am also enthusiastic that the project provides the opportunity to solicit from and share ideas with relevant policymakers, such as politicians and city managers; policy advocates, such as NGOs and civil society groups; and primary policy beneficiaries or victims, such as the urban residents and advocates of change in how our cities are governed.

In fewer than five words, what one issue do you think needs to be prioritised to improve urban development in African cities?

Critical infrastructures and management regimes.*

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

In my spare time, I enjoy having a good cup of Somali tea with friends and family and volunteering for community works when and where possible.

*Note from Abdifatah: Like many developing countries, African cities are reeling with social and economic problems that impede them from satisfying their residents’ demands, desires and imaginations. For me, one strand that stands out from the rest is the lack or insufficiency of critical infrastructures to connect people and places and the lack, inefficiency or inappropriateness of management regimes for existing facilities. I believe that this should be prioritised as a critical problem area for immediate attention in both research and policymaking.

Note: This article presents the views of the author featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.