Urban Constellations The collection explores themes such as new forms of political mobilization, the effects of economic instability, the political ecology of urban nature and the presence of collective memory. Cultural aspects of urban change are also considered including the work of artists, film makers and others, who have sought to critically engage with processes of urban change. The global scope of the collection includes essays on London, Berlin and Los Angeles, as well as less extensively studied cities such as Buenos Aires, Lagos and Seoul. via humanscalecities:

Urban Constellations

The collection explores themes such as new forms of political mobilization, the effects of economic instability, the political ecology of urban nature and the presence of collective memory. Cultural aspects of urban change are also considered including the work of artists, film makers and others, who have sought to critically engage with processes of urban change. The global scope of the collection includes essays on London, Berlin and Los Angeles, as well as less extensively studied cities such as Buenos Aires, Lagos and Seoul.

via humanscalecities:

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What Matters: In the markets of the meta city | McKinsey But as fast as Lagos is growing, it’s actually just a part of a larger urban complex. The world is moving beyond mega-cities to meta-cities. According to the United Nations’ 2010/2011 State of the World’s Cities report, these cities of the future will not be single political entities but will sprawl across geographic, regional, and national boundaries. Consider: Ibadan-Lagos-Accra: This jagged 600-kilometer (373-mile) growing agglomeration of cities snakes through four countries—Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana—and comprises the economic engine of West Africa. Bangkok: The UN predicts that it will sprawl an additional 200 kilometers (124 miles) from its current center over the next ten years. Hong Kong-Shenzhen-Guangzhou: This region in South China is already home to 120 million people and a massive manufacturing base. Mumbai-Delhi: A 1500-kilometer (932-mile) Indian industrial corridor is now developing between these two cities. 

What Matters: In the markets of the meta city | McKinsey

But as fast as Lagos is growing, it’s actually just a part of a larger urban complex. The world is moving beyond mega-cities to meta-cities. According to the United Nations’ 2010/2011 State of the World’s Cities report, these cities of the future will not be single political entities but will sprawl across geographic, regional, and national boundaries. Consider: Ibadan-Lagos-Accra: This jagged 600-kilometer (373-mile) growing agglomeration of cities snakes through four countries—Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana—and comprises the economic engine of West Africa. Bangkok: The UN predicts that it will sprawl an additional 200 kilometers (124 miles) from its current center over the next ten years. Hong Kong-Shenzhen-Guangzhou: This region in South China is already home to 120 million people and a massive manufacturing base. Mumbai-Delhi: A 1500-kilometer (932-mile) Indian industrial corridor is now developing between these two cities. 

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African Cities to Triple in Size | Sustainable Cities Collective


Traffic in Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Nick M.

Much of the growth of cities this century will take place in Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. Already the region has about 200 million people living in slums, the highest number in the world, according to the United Nations. It was a little over a year ago that the continent’s population topped a billion; by early 2040, a billion people alone are expected to live in the continent’s cities.

A publication released in November by UN-Habitat, “The State of African Cities 2010: Governance, Inequalities and Urban Land Markets,” examines trends in population growth, improvements in slum conditions in North Africa, rising sea levels, the economic potential of urban areas, and mobility in sub-Saharan slums. Staggeringly, by 2030, the continent will no longer be majority rural, a projection which is due in part to agricultural reform and more economic opportunity in cities. In fact, urbanization is happening faster in Africa than in anywhere else in the world. To plan for cities as being the future homes for most Africans, the report suggests:

(Read the rest on sustainablecities)

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Africa’s cities: The new African jungle | The Economist I was recently sent the latest edition of the remarkably nourishing Lapham’s Quarterly. This one is all about the city, with essays, thoughts, and illustrations on the city over the ages. It gets me thinking about a favourite subject of mine: African cities. There is not much written on the tropical black cities that lie between South Africa and Egypt. They are painfully hard, shiny, to me sometimes like bubonic swellings about to burst, yet at the same time post-modern, vital—cities of gold, of new ideas. 

Africa’s cities: The new African jungle | The Economist

I was recently sent the latest edition of the remarkably nourishing Lapham’s Quarterly. This one is all about the city, with essays, thoughts, and illustrations on the city over the ages. It gets me thinking about a favourite subject of mine: African cities. There is not much written on the tropical black cities that lie between South Africa and Egypt. They are painfully hard, shiny, to me sometimes like bubonic swellings about to burst, yet at the same time post-modern, vital—cities of gold, of new ideas. 

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