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Old Posted Feb 23, 2010, 10:39 PM
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Africa's Urban Transformation: Signs of Opportunity and Hope


February 23, 2010

Charisma Acey



Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charis..._b_473160.html

Quote:
The people of Africa living south of the Sahara dessert (in the region commonly designated Sub-Saharan Africa [SSA], also a casual synonym for Black Africa) are in the midst of an urbanization revolution. People are moving into cities on the continent faster than anywhere else on earth. And within a couple decades all SSA countries will have more population living in cities than in rural areas, according to the 2006 UN Human Development Report.

- The problem is that much of this urban growth has not resulted from an economic boom. Rather, what we have witnessed in the region over the last several decades is urbanization in the face of limited development. Faced with choices that spawn from a litany of problems beyond their immediate control or scale (weak agricultural sectors and economic performance, lack of intermediate cities and towns, growth of large cities with poor economic bases and municipal revenue capacity, increased global competition, less domestic protection, state privatization, decreased public spending, and more), people are searching for opportunity in large cities.

- With cities unable to handle the population influx, urban migrants from smaller towns and rural areas wind up in extremely deprived, low income areas that are bereft of quality housing and adequate services such as safe water and sanitation, or adequate networked infrastructure such as electricity and transportation, among other challenges.



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