Introduction: African Development in an Urban World: Beyond the Tipping Point

Excerpt

Today two-thirds of Africa’s population live in rural areas, although this is not destined to be the case for much longer. The slow and gradual demographic transition that characterized industrialized countries was more or less complete by the end of the last century. It has been replaced by a much more rapid process of urbanization and urban growth in low- and middle-income countries in the twenty-first century. This is most notably the case in Asia and Africa, where urban populations are set to double in size between 2000 and 2030. In 1960, Africa’s urban population stood at only 15% of the total, rising to 35% in 2006. It is estimated that the continent’s urban population will reach 60% by 2020, with a quarter of this increase attributable to rural–urban migration and the remainder to intra-urban demographic growth or administrative reclassification (Farvacque-Vitkovic et al. 2008). Of course, there is variation across the continent. For example, North and Southern Africa are already just over 50% and 45% urban respectively, while East Africa is only 20.48% urban. Similarly, while the average annual urbanization rates between 2005 and 2010 were 2.40% and 2.56% for North and Southern Africa respectively, it was 4.02% for West and Central Africa and 4.05% for East Africa (UN-HABITAT 2008: 4). This dramatic demographic shift has significant consequences for development, presenting enormous opportunities commensurate with the development of cities, as well as often unforeseen or poorly planned-for challenges. …