Latest News + Insights
New research: Interrogating gender, youth and (in)security in African cities
Across African cities, young people experience specific barriers to accessing livelihoods. A new crosscutting report examines this gendered youth–(in)security nexus in African cities.
Amplifying local voices to influence climate policy in Harare
The impacts of climate change are already exacerbating the challenges posed by urbanisation in Africa. For informal settlements, the capacity for resilience remains critically low, leaving them highly vulnerable to both natural and human-made hazards. In response, communities of low-income urban residents are coming up with innovative climate-resilient solutions through locally driven climate adaptation initiatives.
New special issue: The contribution of urban reform coalitions to inclusive and equitable cities
A new open access special issue of Environment and Urbanization explores how urban reformers come together to advance inclusive urban futures.
Reflections from the Nairobi city managers meeting
ACRC’s city managers, uptake officers and members of the senior management and uptake teams gathered in Nairobi last week for the third city managers meeting of the consortium’s implementation phase.
Tell us your thoughts about the ACRC urban reform database
We want to grow and develop the ACRC urban reform database further – and that’s where we need you! We’re looking for survey participants to share feedback on the database, suggestions for improvement and ideas for case studies.
New research: Unlocking urban finance for African cities
A new working paper by Astrid RN Haas and Gundula Löffler highlights trends and lessons on municipal financing in African cities, providing a valuable overview of this crosscutting issue across ten of ACRC’s focus cities: Accra, Dar es Salaam, Freetown, Harare, Lagos, Lilongwe, Maiduguri, Mogadishu and Nairobi.
Of politics and development: Stakeholder perspectives on urban reform in Lagos
As the old saying goes: all politics is local. In Lagos and elsewhere, political dynamics manifest at various levels – the committee, the community, and the city – and often shape the degree of urban transformation that is possible.
Podcast: Improving access to healthy school meals in Nairobi’s informal settlements
Veronica Mwangi joins Chris Jordan to talk about the issue of healthy diets and nutrition in African cities – particularly among children living in Nairobi’s informal settlements.
Handing on the African Cities Research Consortium
The University of Manchester has recently advertised a new role – which involves taking over as CEO of the African Cities Research Consortium. In this blog post, our current CEO, Professor Diana Mitlin reflects on her own career, experiences and what comes next.
New research: Assessing climate change impacts and solutions across 12 African cities
For ACRC research, climate change was a key crosscutting theme, which we investigated across all of our 12 cities and eight urban development domains. The synthesis report was led by ICLEI Africa and co-authored by Hayley Leck, Zakiyya Atkins, Luka Dreyer, Yakhuluntu Dubazana, Clara Marais, Lorena Pasquini, Tashi Piprek, Meggan Spires and Kate Strachan.
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