Africa's urbanization dynamics 2020 : Africa polis, mapping a new urban geography

Abstract

The pace of urbanization in Africa over the last 60 years is without precedent. In 2015, Kenya had more urban dwellers than the entire continent combined in 1950. Africa’s urban population in 2015 was 567 million people, compared to 27 million in 1950. Africa’s urban diversity is rarely captured in existing analyses and narratives. This is explained in part because urbanization is developing beyond the capacity of statistical measurements that are based upon administrative divisions and therefore only reflect a partial understanding of urban phenomena. Africapolis also reveals the existence of hundreds of urban agglomerations that are not recorded in official statistics, in areas generally considered to be rural. The extent of this phenomenon is striking, and does not only concern small towns, or the suburbs of big cities, but agglomerations of all sizes.Africa’s Urbanization Dynamics 2020 analyses the drivers, trends and forms of urbanization based on Africa polis data. It proposes more inclusive and targeted territorial policy options that integrate the social and environmental impacts of urban development and acknowledge the determining role of cities as economic drivers. Africa’s Urbanization Dynamics 2020 analyses the drivers, trends and forms of urbanization based on Africa polis data. It proposes more inclusive and targeted territorial policy options that integrate the social and environmental impacts of urban development and acknowledge the determining role of cities as economic drivers.