threats. In 2007 and 2008 riots occurred in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal, Mauritania and other African countries in response to rising prices of food, clothing, and fuel.102 Protests in South African cities have become commonplace, as failure to deliver housing, services and infrastructure has impacted communities who, in turn, vent their frustrations at corruption, nepotism, non-delivery and under-spending in local governments. Lack of security is a critical issue in African cities. In Cape Town, spiralling gang violence has prompted communities to request deployment of the South African National Defence Force. High levels of vigilante killings (often for petty crimes such as mobile telephone theft) in Cape Town’s informal settlements, such as Khayelitsha, have compelled the city government to adopt community-level participative approaches to resolve the crisis. Some African institutions are hampered by outmoded leadership styles and display a reluctance to engage with innovative ideas. Yet this is what is required of all African institutions to respond successfully to multiple present and future challenges. In most sub-regions, cities will likely provide the opportunity to take a lead in development. As such, government, business and civil society leadership within African cities must embrace new, progressive ideas about how to engage with the key urban challenges that they face in the twenty-first century. Tendencies to replicate planning approaches that were conceived for cities in developed countries often result in piecemeal applications that fail to integrate into the local socio-economic and cultural context, despite grand master plans that emulate Western-style urban development planning.103 What is clear is that “more of the same” strategy will not yield the required changes, and strong leadership at local, national and regional scales is required to shift the focus of African urban development onto newer, locally customized trajectories. Institutions also suffer from lack of integration and coordination between sectors, different agencies, and within government departments and municipalities. Their efforts are mostly piecemeal and interventions in one sector can often be at odds with the intentions of other government departments. For example, the choices that are made in respect of transportation systems affect all sectors within a city, either increasing or decreasing reliance on petroleum and diesel (energy sector); improving or stifling access and
mobility within the city; increasing or decreasing the cost of goods; and increasing or decreasing air pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases. There are also vast gaps in available urban data in Africa and many cities remain without analyses of spatial change, material flow changes, service provision or public satisfaction levels etc. There is a dearth of information from which to make intelligent governance decisions and from which to pre-empt escalation of emerging or existing problems. Instead, short-term priorities prevail, hindering more sustainable developmental trajectories. As a result of a lack of information, and institutional and financial capacity, many African cities are unable to respond adequately to disasters. To achieve greater urban stability and resilience, it is critical to: (1) recognize national and local fragility as a development and security challenge; (2) improve the capacity and accountability of local governance; (3) boost livelihoods and incomes; and (4) improve security of land tenure, especially for those living in slums and informal settlements with insecure land tenure where any.104
The Political Economy of Urban Underdevelopment
Maintaining order and promoting inclusive, sustainable development in cities requires concerted public action to mediate conflicts, minimize negative externalities and maximize the benefits associated with size, density and diversity. While rapid urban population growth has often overwhelmed the human and fiscal resources of urban authorities, the scope of public action is not only determined by resources; it is also a function of politics. Indeed, one of the most common explanations for urban underdevelopment is that there is a fundamental lack of political will to establish the institutions, implement the policies and make the investments necessary for cities to thrive. However, this explanation is insufficient. In cities across the region it is often vested interests that are to blame for public inaction. Under-regulation and underinvestment in urban areas create profitable opportunities for political and economic entrepreneurs. Squatters on public land often acquire a degree of tenure security by offering money or political support to local power brokers (such as traditional authorities, politicians, police personnel or bureaucrats)
Table 1.2: Projected Population Dynamics of Africa’s Ten Most-populous Cities (in 2015), 1985-2025 Percentage of countries
CHAPTER ONE
Raise
36
Maintain
Lower
No intervention
1976
0
0
49
51
1986
0
0
48
52
1996
0
2
54
44
2007
0
0
77
23
Source: United Nations (2010) World Population Policies 2009, New York: United Nations, Department of Economic & Social Affairs.