Latest News + Insights
Urban land and connectivity
Land is a highly political and emotive issue, given its economic, social, environmental and cultural value. Campaigns for redistribution of land rights have often been central to government legitimation efforts across Africa, although these have often focused on rural land.
Breaking the cycle of housing deprivation in Freetown’s informal settlements
For more than 30% of Freetown households, access to housing takes place in one of its 60 informal settlements. The most likely scenario for those looking for a place to live in one of Freetown’s informal settlements is that they will end up living in a “panbody” shack, which is a small room made of zinc.
Postdoc Profile: Abdifatah Tahir
Abdifatah Tahir talks about his professional and research background, his work on urban land conflicts in Mogadishu, and why he sees critical infrastructures and management regimes as key to improving urban development in African cities.
Securing the right to adequate housing in African cities
A lack of adequate housing is one of the most prominent challenges facing urban Africa. Housing – whether in the form of informal or formal dwellings – is a basic human right, yet remains only an aspiration for most of Africa’s urban population.
Grant awarded for land value study in Kigali
We are pleased to announce that ACRC postdoc Matthew Sharp has been awarded a Young Researcher’s Grant by the International Growth Centre, worth £7,950.
Postdoc Profile: Elizabeth Dessie
Elizabeth Dessie talks about her research background, her interest in rural–urban youth migration and how people experience urban life differently, and why she is excited to be a part of ACRC.
Urban Action Lab founder Shuaib Lwasa joins ACRC
We are delighted to welcome Shuaib Lwasa, founder of the Urban Action Lab at Makerere University, to the African Cities Research Consortium’s senior management team.
Upgrading informal settlements in African cities
In most African cities, more than half of the population live in informal settlements. Residents of such settlements often lack basic services and infrastructure, also facing unsafe housing and insecure tenure.
Interrogating gender inequalities in African cities
A number of core themes cut across different elements of the African Cities conceptual framework, including climate change, financing and gender. Due to their centrality in the political economy of urban development in Africa, these issues will be subject to explicit investigation and analysis. For International Women’s Day, we’re outlining how we’re approaching gender as a crosscutting theme in our research.
The challenges of governing Lagos, the city that keeps growing
From its historical origins as a fishing village and the site of a pepper farm, to today’s bustling metropolis, Lagos has evolved into a complex agglomeration of people, settlements and vested interests.
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