AFRICITIES - The African Mirror

Sep

2021

Africa’s skyline to get a multi-billion facelift

SETH ONYANGO, BIRD Last week, Tanzania’s AICL Group and Edinburgh-based investment company Crowland Management unveiled designs for a skyscraper that would be right at home in the glitzy skyscraper-rich emirate of Dubai. Instead, the upcoming 1.3 billion US dollars tower will be built close to Tanzania's capital, Dar es Salaam. Upon completion, the Zanzibar Domino Commercial Tower will be a 70-storey, spiralling skyscraper on a man-made island off the west coast of the country’s Zanzibar archipelago. It will also be the second-tallest building in Africa, after Egypt’s Iconic Tower, 28 miles east of the capital Cairo. Nonetheless, the Domino will…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Pandemic changes may point way to sustainable cities of the future

AFRICITIES

CITY dwellers and planners should build on the dramatic changes swept in by COVID-19 to create a more sustainable and low-carbon future, urban experts told a virtual meeting of global leaders on Monday. Rigid school and office hours have given way to a more flexible system of working during the pandemic that puts less pressure on transport systems and energy grids, heard a "net-zero" cities panel organised by the World Economic Forum. "If you can actually reschedule cities thanks to the newfound flexibility following the pandemic there could be ... a big impact," said Carlo Ratti, director of the SENSEable…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana’s unstable building problem is about more than lax regulation

AFRICITIES

COLLAPSED buildings are worryingly common in several large African cities. One study counted 54 building collapse deaths and 122 injuries in Kampala, Uganda between 2004 and 2008. Another identified 112 cases in Lagos, Nigeria from December 1978 to April 2008. Cities in Ghana and Kenya, too, have recorded similar fatal incidents. FESTIVAL GODWIN BOATENG, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Urban Development, The Earth Institute, Columbia University This isn’t a uniquely African problem, though. It occurs in Asia’s rapidly urbanising areas, too. Buildings collapse either during construction or when they’re already occupied. It’s often suggested that the problems in African…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Same old funding model can’t keep South African cities going or serve residents

AFRICITIES

LOCAL government, neglected under apartheid in South Africa, was elevated in the 1996 constitution so as to strengthen democracy and help redress past inequities. The idea was that by making services (water, electricity, and refuse) accessible and affordable, national government would be legitimised. THEO COVARY, Energy policy expert/researcher, University of Cape Town But in 2021, South Africa’s municipalities are in dire straits. They are mired by service delivery failures, poor management, financial mismanagement, billing crises and power outages. The electricity cuts are due to ageing and failing infrastructure, compounded by electricity supply cuts by Eskom. The Auditor-General has said that…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Teed off: As COVID fuels S. Africa’s housing crisis, golf courses feel the heat

AFRICITIES

KIM HARRISBERG IT sounds like a developer's dream: A greenfield site in the heart of Cape Town, close to the best schools, hospitals and transport links and big enough to build more than 1,400 affordable new homes. The only hitch - it's a golf course. The 46-hectare (114-acre) Rondebosch Golf Club is one of hundreds of golf courses in South Africa facing scrutiny by land rights campaigners as a surge in evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic exposes an acute shortage of low-cost housing. Rondebosch had its lease renewed by the city government late last year despite the presentation of some…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

From sewage to oasis: Female duo create Johannesburg green corridor

AFRICITIES

KIM HARRISBERG A river filled with sewage, broken TVs, dead dogs and used needles or a clean, bird-luring oasis lined with indigenous plants? Most people could only see a polluted ribbon of water in Johannesburg's Jukskei but two pioneering women have set out to restore one of the city's largest rivers. Conservationist Romy Stander and artist Hannelie Coetzee want to tackle water pollution using research, green infrastructure and art in a model they hope can be replicated for other rivers across the country. Working closely with the local community, the duo launched an initiative to remove alien invasive plants in…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Slum upgrading in Kenya: what are the conditions for success?

AFRICITIES

JANE WERU and WILLIAM COBBETT EARLIER this month, the Canadian High Commissioner hosted a roundtable to showcase the upgrading of Mukuru. The slum exemplified decades of neglect by the Kenyan political elite: impassable roads, especially in the rainy season, sewerage in the street, standing water, plastic and uncollected garbage everywhere, the residents housed in tightly-packed and overcrowded informal settlements. Similar scenes are on view in Nairobi’s other major slums: Kibera, Korogocho and Muthare valley. They are familiar nationally and internationally through countless visits by visiting dignitaries, academics, media and development agencies. A project here and there has provided some services…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Bujumbura tops Africa’s fastest growing cities

AFRICITIES

SETH ONYANGO FORMER Burundi capital, Bujumbura is the fastest growing city in Africa, catalysed by rapid urbanisation, population growth and employment opportunities. Consumer and market data portal, Statista projects its population to grow 123 per cent to reach 2.3 million people in 2035. It comes on the back of expanding democratic space under President Evariste Ndayishimiye who took over the reins of the landlocked state in the Great Rift Valley in May 2020. Bujumbura currently has a population of slightly over one million, expected to more than double in the next 14 years. Zinder, Niger, is Africa's second-fastest-growing city. With…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

There’s a disconnect between research and urban planning in Africa: how to fix it

AFRICITIES

THE African continent is fast on its way to becoming one of the world’s largest urban hubs. This has spawned a growing interest in African urbanisation by both researchers and policymakers. But a great deal of the knowledge – and policy that stems from it – doesn’t adequately respond to the challenges faced by those who govern and are governed on the ground. SYLVIA CROESE, Senior research fellow, University of the Witwatersrand NTOMBINI MARRENGANE, Senior Manager, Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Cape Town We address this problem in our new book Reframing the Urban Challenge in…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Mass demolitions, evictions as Nigeria continues housing push

AFRICITIES

KELECHUKWU IRUOMA DEMOLA Adeleye and his family were sleeping in their three-bedroom bungalow when they were awoken by the sound of bulldozers demolishing the homes around them. In February a task force sent by Lagos state's New Towns Development Authority (NTDA) started bulldozing all the structures in the coastal neighbourhood of Oke-Egan and evicting the occupants. "I am pained and depressed," Adeleye, 38, said with tears in his eyes. "Look at where I have been sleeping with my wife and four children," he added, pointing to a half-finished building behind his welding workshop where his family has been staying since…