On Tuesday 10 September 2024, Maiduguri city residents woke up to an unparalleled natural disaster: flooding that severely damaged over half of the city and resulted in the significant loss of lives. The five bridges that connect the city’s two...

Accra is home to around 5 million people and plays a crucial role in Ghana’s national political landscape. Located on the coast of West Africa, development trajectories of the city are significantly influenced by national and global events....

Two thirds of people living in Lagos reside in informal settlements, often in flood-prone areas and with limited access to basic services. As more and more people move into the city, the already high population density is rising. With more than...

“No textbook can tell you how to do this.”ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, exper...

“From the design of the project, from the design of the tools, to implementation, to data collection and everything, the community should be at the lead, at the forefront, speaking about their issues.”ACRC research in Nairobi has...

"Informal settlements in Kampala, and in other cities elsewhere across Africa, they are not homogenous, they're very heterogeneous. The kinds of pressures they face – social, environmental, political, economic pressures – they're very differ...

Urban reform coalitions can play a critical role in building inclusive, sustainable and productive cities. Made up of diverse stakeholders who collaborate to achieve common goals, these coalitions can work to strengthen relationships between...

“The city keeps on growing every day. New infrastructure is being brought in every day. This means we can envisage more and more people coming into Lagos needing housing.”With more than an estimated 3,000 people arriving every day...

"How can the interest and the commitment of those in charge of this city be galvanised, so that they see service delivery as important as an end in itself? For me, we need first to mobilise citizens."People living and working informally...

ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, experts and civil society organisations – often directly invol...

ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, experts and civil society organisations – often directly invol...

As the capital and the seat of the Somali government, Mogadishu has undergone a slow process of urban recovery over the course of the past decade. The city is experiencing rapid urbanisation, growing up to as much as 4% per year by some estimat...

ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, experts and civil society organisations – often directly invol...

"We really see these reform coalitions as very key. They're key to nurturing new ideas, they're key to articulating ideas that perhaps are working elsewhere and making sure they're understood within their local context. They're key in translati...

“This is kind of a hub, if you will, that's bringing in goods and services to the wider group of people in the informal settlements. And you can think about anything that you need in your life, in your home. So things to do with food, clothes, ...

"Beyond patrolling, beyond the police, beyond anti-terror police activities which come from a global war on terror, what are people doing every day and what have they been doing every day to keep themselves safe?" In this episode, ...

"It's not our data as SDI, it's not ACRC data, it's not their data. It's the community's data. So you have to have that understanding that, at the end of the day, it has to benefit the community."In this episode, Miriam Maina talks to C...

"Lagos is a city of migrants… migrants are shaping the city in ways that are evolving per day. We are where we are now as a city through the action of migrants. And, more recently, we find that the actions of migrants are changing the spatial c...

What opportunities does urbanisation present for people living in African cities? How much does it really contribute to the economy? And what wider advantages can it have for rural dwellers?In our latest podcast episode, Philipp Heinrig...

"A project comes, a project leaves. The community will always remain. But now, what do you leave in that community?"In this episode, Miriam Maina talks to Eva Muchiri and Nicera Wanjiru from Muungano ...

What is ACRC’s research in Freetown all about? How does housing connect with land, youth employment and the risin...

In this episode, Amani Abou-Zeid – African Union Commissioner in charge of infrastructure, energy and ICT – talks to ACRC's city of systems lead Seth Schindler about energy security and infrastructural development in Africa.

Since the start of the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC), we’ve been interested in trying to create more equitable partnerships and processes through the process. The rupture of the Covid-19 pandemic provided us with some opportunities,...

Despite gender equality policies at the national level in many African countries, there are persistent gender-based disparities, inequalities and exclusions faced by many women, particularly among low-income urban residents. And while urbanisat...

Collaborations between academia and grassroots organisations are not without tensions and power imbalances. For low-income urban communities, engaging with academics may mean enduring disqualification of their knowledge.Systematic refle...