Governing the urban fringes: the impacts of Africa’s urban growth on peri-urban areas
Practical information
Accessibility
Themes and regions
Related centers and programs
The rapid expansion of Africa’s cities is considered as one of the continent’s main socio-economic challenges.
Unlike in Europe, North America and East Asia, the spatial trend of urban expansion in sub-Saharan Africa is horizontal. Rather than growing upward through taller buildings, Africa’s cities expand into their peri-urban rural outskirts. Thus, peri-urban areas are undergoing considerable spatial, socio-economic and administrative change: farmland is absorbed by buildings and commercial activities, land prices are spiking and new class dynamics can be observed.
The outward expansion of Africa’s cities happens randomly without large-scale urban planning, which makes the governance of peri-urban areas difficult.
The aim of this conference, which is part of the programme “Governing Africa’s Urban Transitions” is to unpack the rapid transformations occurring in peri-urban areas: experts and professionals will zoom into dynamic land markets and land use change, infrastructure development and economic value chains at the crossroads of urban and rural areas.
Speakers :
Divine Asafo, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Hull, England
Alix Beranger, Consulting & Operations, Egis
Bérénice Bon, Research Fellow in Geography, Urban Dynamics in the South, IRD, France
Jackson Kago, Senior Lecturer, Department of Spatial Planning and Environment, School of Architecture and Built Environment, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Moderation: Sina Schlimmer, Head of the “Governing Urban Transitions in Africa” program, Ifri, France
The event will be held face-to-face and in hybrid format (via zoom) in French, with English translation.
Replay
Contact
Lise LESIGNE
Former Project Officer, Sub-Saharan Africa Center, Turkey/Middle East Program, Ifri
Related Subjects
Other events
Brussels, Germany, France and Italy Facing the Energy and Industrial Crises: Coordinated or Diverging Trajectories?
Amidst soaring defense spending, higher borrowing costs, erosion of energy intensive industries, renewed energy price hikes and possibly physical shortages, the European Union and its Member States are again struggling to stabilize the European economies. Governments are tempted by uncoordinated, short-term moves while in Brussels, there is a struggle between the “more of the same” and the “scrap it largely” approaches to the transition.
Geopolitical stakes of the New Moon race
As the United States, China, and India solidify their lunar ambitions, Europe is still seeking to define its stance: should it be a reliable partner or an autonomous strategic player? This conference will examine the stakes of this new race to the Moon and Europe’s interest in asserting itself as a lunar power through partnerships, industrial ambitions, and whether its participation in the new lunar race serves as a lever for strategic autonomy and internal cohesion, or an illustration of its dependence.