Urbanisation and poverty in Africa

New research project coordinated by Department of Geography and Geology (DGG) at SCIENCE will challenge assumptions on urbanisation and poverty in Africa.

 

Jytte Agergaard, researcher at DGG, is to lead a new project financed by the EU that will analyse rural-city connections and provide decision makers with new insights of relevance for future planning.

 

Over the coming years, Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to have the highest rates of urban growth in any major region. However, many decision makers in these countries tend to see urban growth as a problem that increases poverty levels, and have policies to reduce migrant flows to the large cities. This is often done based on a number of assumptions, e.g. that Africa’s economic base is predominantly agricultural; that the creation of slum areas in the cities only depends on migration from rural areas, and not on the natural growth in the urban areas; and that urban development can be dealt with without looking at broader socio-economic developments.

 

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