Download or read book Enhancing Urban Productivity in Africa written by Franklin Obeng-Odoom and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While cities in advanced economies contribute 85% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), cities in low income economies, including Africa, contribute only 55% of GDP. This article analyzes the current situation of urban areas in Africa (in particular in Ghana), including facts relating to unemployment, slum population, urban poverty and the make-up and management of municipal finance. In what ways can urban productivity be promoted in Africa? Is it possible to overcome the significant constraints that inhibit the work of city managers?
Download or read book Which Way to Livable and Productive Cities written by Kirsten Hommann and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2019-04-18 with total page 59 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For African cities to grow economically as they have grown in size, they must create productive environments to attract investments, increase economic efficiency, and create livable environments that prevent urban costs from rising with increased population densification. What are the central obstacles that prevent African cities and towns from becoming sustainable engines of economic growth and prosperity? Among the most critical factors that limit the growth and livability of urban areas are land markets, investments in public infrastructure and assets, and the institutions to enable both. To unleash the potential of African cities and towns for delivering services and employment in a livable and environmentally friendly environment, a sequenced approach is needed to reform institutions and policies and to target infrastructure investments. This book lays out three foundations that need fixing to guide cities and towns throughout Sub-Saharan Africa on their way to productivity and livability.
Download or read book Integrated Productivity in Urban Africa written by Donald Okeke and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-08-12 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces readers to neo-mercantile planning theory in the context of spatial regional integration in Africa. It proposes a new approach that rethinks neo-liberalism as the meta-theory of planning in Africa, and pioneers an original school of thought that presents a general theory of planning for Africa in the twenty-first century. Research to substantiate the new theory was conducted over the period November 2010 to May 2015 and is presented here in four sections with more than 500 references. The book offers comprehensive coverage, from the theoretical foundations and framework, through application and empirical research, to analysis, conclusions and recommendations.
Download or read book Urbanization and Socio Economic Development in Africa written by Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-05-16 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The main goal of this book is to put urbanization and its challenges squarely on Africa’s development agenda. Planned urbanization can improve living conditions for the majority, help in the expansion of the middle class, and create conditions for economic transformation. However, many African cities have developed haphazardly, resulting in the decline of public services, in slum proliferation, and increases in poverty. African cities thrive on activities characterized by easy entry and low productivity, generally referred to as the "informal sector". Indeed, today some urban dwellers are poorer than their cousins in the countryside. In spite of reform attempts, many governments have not been able to create an enabling environment, with adequate infrastructure and institutions to sustain markets for easy exchange and production. This study argues that with careful policies and planning, the situation can be changed. If the recent natural resource-led economic boom that we have seen in many African countries is used for structural reforms and urban renewal, African cities could become centers of economic opportunity. The challenge for African policymakers is to ensure that urban development is orderly and that the process is inclusive and emphasizes the protection of the environment, hence green growth.
Download or read book Urban Productivity in the Developing World written by Edward Ludwig Glaeser and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Africa is urbanizing rapidly, and this creates both opportunities and challenges. Labor productivity appears to be much higher in developing-world cities than in rural areas, and historically urbanization is strongly correlated with economic growth. Education seems to be a strong complement to urbanization, and entrepreneurial human capital correlates strongly with urban success. Immigrants provide a natural source of entrepreneurship, both in the U.S. and in Africa, which suggests that making African cities more livable can generate economic benefits by attracting talent. Reducing the negative externalities of urban life requires a combination of infrastructure, incentives, and institutions. Appropriate institutions can mean independent public authorities, public-private partnerships, and non-profit entities depending on the setting.
Download or read book Urbanization and Industrialization for Africa s Transformation written by and published by UN. This book was released on 2017 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2017 Economic Report on Africa focuses on the linkages between industrialization and urbanization. Urbanization is one of Africa mega trends with profound implications for the social, economic, environmental dimensions of growth and transformation. Theory and experience demonstrate that industrialization and urbanization can be mutually reinforcing processes. It is therefore imperative to explore the linkages between urbanization and industrialization given the profound implications for structural transformation in Africa. So far, current policy narratives and frameworks on structural transformation and industrialization in Africa have largely failed to factor in the spatial and urban dimensions of industrialization, and in particular the advantages presented by productivity enhancement and agglomeration effects generated by cities. Yet, the nexus between urbanization and industrialization is of particular relevance for Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. Both agendas recognize urbanization as a critical factor for sustainable development. It is also important to consider urbanization and industrialization in light of Africa's engagement with the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) to be held in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016. In this context, African policy makers have clearly recognized urbanization as an engine of structural transformation for inclusive and sustainable growth.
Download or read book Enhancing Resource Allocation to Urban Development in Africa written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report draws on the main papers, discussions and recommendations of the African Regional Seminar on Enhancing Resource Allocation to Cities to Strengthen their Role as Engines of Economic Growth and Development - convened by the Urban Economy and Finance Branch of UN-HABITAT and held in Nairobi on 2-3 November 2005. The report sheds light on the required measures to enhance resource allocation for accelerating urban development in Africa.
Download or read book Africa s Cities written by Somik Vinay Lall and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2017-02-09 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cities in Sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing rapid population growth. Yet their economic growth has not kept pace. Why? One factor might be low capital investment, due in part to Africa’s relative poverty: Other regions have reached similar stages of urbanization at higher per capita GDP. This study, however, identifies a deeper reason: African cities are closed to the world. Compared with other developing cities, cities in Africa produce few goods and services for trade on regional and international markets To grow economically as they are growing in size, Africa’s cities must open their doors to the world. They need to specialize in manufacturing, along with other regionally and globally tradable goods and services. And to attract global investment in tradables production, cities must develop scale economies, which are associated with successful urban economic development in other regions. Such scale economies can arise in Africa, and they will—if city and country leaders make concerted efforts to bring agglomeration effects to urban areas. Today, potential urban investors and entrepreneurs look at Africa and see crowded, disconnected, and costly cities. Such cities inspire low expectations for the scale of urban production and for returns on invested capital. How can these cities become economically dense—not merely crowded? How can they acquire efficient connections? And how can they draw firms and skilled workers with a more affordable, livable urban environment? From a policy standpoint, the answer must be to address the structural problems affecting African cities. Foremost among these problems are institutional and regulatory constraints that misallocate land and labor, fragment physical development, and limit productivity. As long as African cities lack functioning land markets and regulations and early, coordinated infrastructure investments, they will remain local cities: closed to regional and global markets, trapped into producing only locally traded goods and services, and limited in their economic growth.
Download or read book Growing Greener Cities in Africa written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). This book was released on 2012 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Second Global Plan of Action addresses new challenges, such as climate change and food insecurity, as well as novel opportunities, including information, communication and molecular methodologies. It contains 18 priority activities organized in four main groups: In situ conservation and management; Ex situ conservation; Sustainable use; and Building sustainable institutional and human capacities.
Download or read book Rural Urban Linkages and Sustainable Development in Africa written by Shogo Kudo and published by Spears Media Press. This book was released on 2018-10-18 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book highlights the important role of the complex nature of interactions between rural and urban areas in Africa and how this relates to sustainable development on the continent – one with a fast urbanization rate. The volume critiques the widely held assumption of a societal divide where rural areas are mostly agricultural, whilst urban areas engage in industry and services. Contributors provide conceptual arguments and present case studies in Africa which illustrate the complex and multifaceted interdependencies between cities and rural areas, through the flow of natural resources, people, capital, information, goods and services which directly impacts the socio-ecological as well as economic sustainability of these spaces. This volume forms part of an Education for Sustainable Development in Africa (ESDA) book series involving the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability and 8 partner African universities running Master’s Programs in sustainable development. The book series is intended to serve primarily as undergraduate and graduate instruction materials for courses on sustainable development in Africa, as well as policy input to key developmental issues in Africa.
Download or read book African Cities and the Development Conundrum written by Carole Ammann and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 10th thematic volume of International Development Policy presents a collection of articles exploring some of the complex development challenges associated with Africa’s recent but extremely rapid pace of urbanisation that challenges still predominant but misleading images of Africa as a rural continent. Analysing urban settings through the diverse experiences and perspectives of inhabitants and stakeholders in cities across the continent, the authors consider the evolution of international development policy responses amidst the unique historical, social, economic and political contexts of Africa’s urban development. Contributors include: Carole Ammann, Claudia Baez Camargo, Claire Bénit-Gbaffou, Karen Büscher, Aba Obrumah Crentsil, Sascha Delz, Ton Dietz, Till Förster, Lucy Koechlin, Lalli Metsola, Garth Myers, George Owusu, Edgar Pieterse, Sebastian Prothmann, Warren Smit, and Florian Stoll.
Download or read book Resurgent Africa written by Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka and published by Anthem Press. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘Resurgent Africa: Structural Transformation in Sustainable Development’ is a study of structural change dynamics in Africa and its effect on job creation, living standards and the efficiency of productive cities through manufacturing productivity growth that benefit the majority. Empirical data from selected African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia, provides in-depth analysis and knowledge of the continent’s diversified economies by establishing relationships between industrialization trends; rates of urbanization; and urban living standards, income growth and employment in Africa. The findings reveal unconventional pathways of structural change, patterns of jobless growth suggesting economic growth that does not necessarily lead to employment, dominance of services at the expense of manufacturing industry explaining the regress in Africa’s industrial sector and occurrence of structural transformation without improvement in labour productivity. These are important concerns for Africa’s long-term development leading to the conclusion that sustainable urbanization and industrialization are not only closely connected but also key drivers of economic change. The book includes recommendations for policymakers to adopt a new approach to development for a resurgent Africa.
Download or read book Urbanization and Growth written by Michael Spence and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2008-11-26 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is productivity higher in cities? Does urbanization cause growth or does growth cause urbanization? Do countries achieve rapid growth or high incomes without urbanization? How can policy makers reap the benefits of urbanization without paying too high a cost? Does supporting urbanization imply neglecting rural areas? Why do so few governments welcome urbanization? What should governments do to improve housing conditions in cities as they urbanize? Are innovations in housing finance a blessing or a curse for developing countries? How will governments finance the trillions of dollars of infrastructure spending needed for cities in developing countries? First in a series of thematic volumes, this book was prepared for the Commission on Growth and Development to evaluate the state of knowledge of the relationship between urbanization and economic growth. It does not pretend to provide all the answers, but it does identify insights and policy levers to help countries make urbanization work as part of a national growth strategy. It examines a variety of topics: the relevance and policy implications of recent advances in urban economics for developing countries, the role of economic geography in global economic trends and trade patterns, the impacts of urbanization on spatial inequality within countries, and alternative approaches to financing the substantial infrastructure investments required in developing-country cities. Written by prominent academics in their fields, Urbanization and Growth seeks to create a better understanding of the role of urbanization in growth and to inform policy makers tackling the formidable challenges it poses.
Download or read book Enhancing Resource Allocation to Urban Development in Africa written by Charles Chukwuma Soludo and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report draws on the main papers, discussions and recommendations of the African Regional Seminar on Enhancing Resource Allocation to Cities to Strengthen their Role as Engines of Economic Growth and Development - convened by the Urban Economy and Finance Branch of UN-HABITAT and held in Nairobi on 2-3 November 2005. The report sheds light on the required measures to enhance resource allocation for accelerating urban development in Africa.
Download or read book Urbanization in Africa Under Weak Economic Conditions written by Robert A. Obudho and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Enhancing Resource Allocation to Urban Development in Africa written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book West African Studies Africa s Urbanisation Dynamics 2022 The Economic Power of Africa s Cities written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2022-04-26 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report provides a new perspective on Africa’s urban economies that is unique in its breadth and level of detail. Based on data from more than 4 million individuals and firms in 2 600 cities across 34 countries, it presents compelling evidence that urbanisation contributes to better economic outcomes and higher living standards.
