African Cities
African Cities Research Consortium
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Top 10 African Cities Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best African Cities episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to African Cities for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite African Cities episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Navigating Freetown's housing challenges
African Cities
11/10/22 • 57 min
What is ACRC’s research in Freetown all about? How does housing connect with land, youth employment and the rising costs of imported materials? How do political systems both help and hinder meaningful change? What attention is paid to informal settlements? Does the government’s agenda intersect with residents’ needs, and where are the gaps? And how can these gaps be explored and understood, to drive forward urban reform processes?
These are some of the key questions explored as part of a recent radio segment on Radio Democracy 98.1 FM’s Freetown Urban Talk, which brought together key ACRC researchers from the housing and informal settlements domains for a conversation about ongoing work in the city.
Francis Reffell is the founder of the Centre of Dialogue on Human Settlement and Poverty Alleviation (CODOHSAPA), a non-profit organisation providing technical support to its community counterpart and SDI affiliate, the Federation of Urban and Rural Poor (FEDURP). He leads ACRC’s research on informal settlements in Freetown alongside Braima Koroma.
Joseph Macarthy is executive director of the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC) and leads ACRC’s work on housing in Freetown alongside Zuzana Hrdlickova.
Alexandre Apsan Frediani is a principal researcher in the human settlements group at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and leads ACRC’s housing domain alongside Ola Uduku.
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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer
Sounds: Zapsplat
This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.
Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:
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Migration, politics and urban governance in Lagos
African Cities
12/06/22 • 42 min
"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 configurations of the city, determining some of the political narratives and political ideologies as well as political practices around the city; that the actions of migrants are also determining, to a large extent, the kinds of ways wealth is being distributed across the city."
In this episode, researchers from ACRC’s Lagos team discuss how migration into the city is shaping debates around place, identity and citizenship, how it impacts on urban governance, and how the political obstacles holding back sustainable reform can be overcome.
Ismail Ibraheem is director of International Relations, Partnership and Prospects (IRPP) at the University of Lagos and uptake lead for ACRC in Lagos.
Taibat Lawanson is professor of urban management and governance at the University of Lagos and city lead for ACRC in Lagos.
Sa'eed Husaini is a research fellow at the University of Ghana, Legon and the Centre for Democracy and Development in Abuja, Nigeria, and is the political settlements lead for ACRC in Lagos.
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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer
Sounds: Zapsplat
This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.
Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:
> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
> YouTube
> X (Twitter)
Politics and informality in Kampala with Peter Kasaija
African Cities
11/21/23 • 37 min
"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 different."
More than half of people living in African cities reside in informal settlements. Such settlements often share similar challenges – including inadequate access to basic services and infrastructure, and insecure tenure. But when it comes to understanding the political dynamics of urban informality, the differences cannot be ignored.
In this episode, ACRC's Kampala informal settlements domain lead Peter Kasaija joins Smith Ouma for a conversation around how politics shapes access to basic services in Kampala's informal settlements. They discuss deficiencies in city systems, the multiple players operating in these spaces and the "invisible hand" of powerful local actors in granting access to basic services. They also talk about the often-overlooked political savviness of informal settlement residents in using political support to protect themselves against eviction. And they reflect on the evolution of informal settlements in the city, and why some might disappear in the near future.
Peter Kasaija is a researcher at the Urban Action Lab at Makerere University and leads ACRC's informal settlements domain research in Kampala.
Smith Ouma is a Leverhulme Research Fellow at The University of Manchester's Global Development Institute and part of ACRC's informal settlements domain team.
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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer
Sounds: Zapsplat
This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.
Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:
> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
> YouTube
> X (Twitter)
Unlocking better housing for Lagos
African Cities
08/23/23 • 30 min
“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, Lagos is seen as a city of opportunity. But a rapidly increasing population means huge demand for housing in a city where around 70% of the population lives in substandard conditions.
Speaking to Miriam Maina, ACRC’s Lagos housing domain lead Basirat Oyalowo discusses her research into the Lagos housing value chain, which is looking at the complex connections between various subsystems to better understand what can be done to boost provision and upgrade existing housing in the city.
She talks about how groups including cooperative societies, social organisations and residents’ associations are already working to fill gaps in government service provision and basic infrastructure. With greater recognition and support, she argues, there is ample opportunity for these groups to scale up interventions to deliver housing alongside other neighbourhood improvements. Highlighting the vulnerability of informal communities to climate hazards as well as evictions, she stresses the need for communities to understand the risks they face so they can proactively advocate for better housing conditions.
Basirat Oyalowo is a senior lecturer at the University of Lagos in the Department of Estate Management, and leads the housing domain research for ACRC in Lagos.
Miriam Maina is a town planner and urban researcher. She recently completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the African Cities Research Consortium, where she was part of the housing domain team.
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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer
Sounds: Zapsplat
This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.
Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:
> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
> YouTube
> X (Twitter)
Advancing inclusive housing in Lagos
African Cities
08/14/24 • 55 min
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 8,000 people per square kilometre in some parts – over 40 times Nigeria’s average – Lagos is struggling to meet the housing demands of its ever-expanding population.
ACRC research highlights a lack of attention on improving the climate resilience of Lagos at the community and city levels. Additionally, it draws attention to major issues with the rental sector, inadequate provision for gendered housing access and challenges around high construction costs.
So, what can be done to increase housing provision in Lagos, and ensure all residents have access to safe, affordable, serviced accommodation?
In this podcast episode, ACRC’s uptake director Ismail Ibraheem is joined by Deji Akinpelu, Lookman Oshodi and Basirat Oyalowo for a conversation around housing challenges in Lagos and how inclusive, affordable and climate-resilient housing solutions might be implemented. They discuss the need for a social approach to housing provision, why transformation must be inclusive of vulnerable populations and how cooperative societies can play a key part in providing accessible housing financing for disadvantaged groups.
> Read more in ACRC’s housing domain reportIsmail Ibraheem is director of International Relations, Partnership and Prospects (IRPP) at the University of Lagos and ACRC’s uptake director.
Deji Akinpelu is co-founder of Rethinking Cities, an advocacy group working on urban development issues in Lagos.
Lookman Oshodi is project director at Arctic Infrastructure in Lagos, which focuses on climate-resilient infrastructure to improve the functioning of urban systems.
Basirat Oyalowo is a senior lecturer at the University of Lagos in the Department of Estate Management and was the housing domain lead for ACRC’s foundation phase research in Lagos.
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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer
Sounds: Zapsplat
This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.
Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:
> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
> YouTube
> X (Twitter)
Lessons in resilience from the Maiduguri floods
African Cities
10/18/24 • 21 min
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 sides overflowed, dividing it into two blocs that were unable to reach out to each other. Almost the entire lower portion of the city remained under water for over two weeks before the flood waters began to recede.
The Alau Dam – situated a few kilometres away from Maiduguri city – collapsed, leading to a flood that killed an estimated 77 people and displaced 300,000. As a city still recovering from the scourge of the Boko Haram insurgency, the flood has further compounded the economic and social challenges that city residents were already facing. The victims were faced with challenges of health care, infrastructural needs, mental health and psychosocial support needs, shelter and food.
In this podcast episode, Chris Jordan speaks to Babakura Bukar about the devastation caused by the floods, the factors contributing to the dam collapse and how such a disaster could be avoided in the future.
> Read more in ACRC’s Maiduguri city report
Babakura Bukar was ACRC's uptake lead for Maiduguri in the foundation phase of the programme.
Chris Jordan is communications and impact manager for the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester, and ACRC's communications manager.
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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer
Sounds: Zapsplat
This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.
Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:
> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
> YouTube
> X (Twitter)
03/20/24 • 56 min
“No textbook can tell you how to do this.”
ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, experts and civil society organisations – often directly involving communities and groups most directly affected by the issues at hand – to drive sustainable urban transformation.
In this episode, Lalitha Kamath – professor in the School of Habitat Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai – joins Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael for a conversation about the transformative potential of urban reform coalitions and the need to value lived experience.
Talking about how she became interested in governance coalitions during her PhD, Lalitha argues that the value of coalitions lies in the process of self-organising itself – not just the material outcomes. She highlights how inclusive coalitions can serve to visibilise diverse experiences of urban spaces and calls for a reshaping of the politics of expertise.
Lalitha Kamath is an urban planner and policy analyst, and currently teaches in the Centre for Urban Policy and Governance, School of Habitat Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael is a research fellow in the international development department at the University of Birmingham and an honorary fellow at The University of Manchester. He was previously a postdoctoral research fellow at the African Cities Research Consortium.
Further reading
- Lalitha Kamath | Coalitions and urban transformation: Contributions and limits
- Diana Mitlin | The contribution of reform coalitions to inclusion and equity: lessons from urban social movements
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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer
Sounds: Zapsplat
This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.
Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:
> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
> YouTube
> X (Twitter)
03/17/25 • 31 min
School feeding programmes are a vital safety net for vulnerable children, providing them with healthy and nutritious meals that they might otherwise miss out on.
Such initiatives are not new and have run in Kenya in different forms for decades; in Nairobi, for example, the county government has an existing school feeding programme in public schools. But the current programme does not apply to informal private schools, meaning that the majority of children living in the city’s informal settlements have been excluded from the government initiative. An ACRC action research project aims to fill this gap.
In this episode, Veronica Mwangi, researcher and lecturer of economic geography at the University of Nairobi, joins Chris Jordan to talk about the issue of healthy diets and nutrition in African cities – particularly among children living in Nairobi’s informal settlements. They discuss the various economic, market-related and household-level factors hindering access to nutritious diets in these settlements – such as low incomes, high food prices and cultural practices – highlighting malnutrition and food insecurity as major concerns. They explore the potential that expanding the existing school feeding programme has to address these issues and improve the nutrition of children living in informal settlements, outlining how the action research team is working closely with the community to co-create an affordable, sustainable school feeding model that can be rolled out across informal schools.
> Read more about ACRC’s school feeding programme action research project
Veronica Mwangi is a researcher and lecturer of economic geography in the Department of Geography, Population and Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi.
Chris Jordan is communications and impact manager for the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester, and ACRC's communications manager.
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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer
Sounds: Zapsplat
This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.
Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:
> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
> YouTube
> X (Twitter)
Understanding urban property tax with Samuel B Biitir
African Cities
05/16/25 • 31 min
As urbanisation accelerates across Africa, cities are under growing pressure to deliver essential infrastructure and public services – such as water, sanitation, drainage and electricity. Yet this expanding responsibility is unfolding in a context where sustainable funding and reliable financing mechanisms remain limited or entirely absent, leaving many local governments struggling to meet rising demands.
So, how can African cities manage their expanding expenditure responsibilities, particularly in the face of persistent funding shortfalls? One potential solution lies in property taxation – a levy applied to the ownership, transfer or occupation of land and physical property.
Ahead of an upcoming ACRC workshop in Accra, Chris Jordan is joined by Samuel B Biitir for a conversation around the challenges and opportunities of urban property taxation in African cities. With a particular focus on the Accra context, they discuss how property taxation could help to improve essential urban infrastructure and services, the need for political buy-in, the potential benefits and blockages posed by digitalisation, and the importance of transparency when it comes to securing citizen support.
> Read more about ACRC’s urban property tax workshop in Accra
Samuel B Biitir is a senior lecturer in the Department of Land Management at SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, and led ACRC's land and connectivity domain research in Accra.
Chris Jordan is communications and impact manager for the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester, and ACRC's communications manager.
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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer
Sounds: Zapsplat
This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.
Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:
> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
> YouTube
> X (Twitter)
Urban reform coalitions: Harare with George Masimba
African Cities
03/27/23 • 60 min
ACRC defines inclusive urban reform coalitions as partnerships between government, experts and civil society organisations – often directly involving communities and groups most directly affected by the issues at hand – to drive sustainable urban transformation.
In this episode, George Masimba from Dialogue on Shelter Trust – support NGO to the SDI-affiliated Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation – talks to Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael about the trust's experiences of working within reform coalitions to improve access to urban services for marginalised communities in Harare, through initiatives including the development of an inclusive framework for participatory informal settlement upgrading.
He highlights how coalitions have been instrumental in securing buy-in for SDI's approach to informal settlement upgrading in the city, and explores their value in leveraging financial and technical resources, strengthening engagement processes, and creating a community of likeminded stakeholders who can push for change together.
George Masimba is head of programmes at Dialogue on Shelter and is the lead for ACRC's city of systems, uptake and informal settlements domain work in Harare. George appeared on a previous episode, discussing knowledge co-production in the city.
Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael is a postdoctoral research fellow at the African Cities Research Consortium, supporting research across the crosscutting themes of finance, gender and climate change.
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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer
Sounds: Zapsplat
This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.
Stay up to date with the latest publications, announcements and insights from the African Cities Research Consortium:
> Website
> E-news
> Bluesky
> LinkedIn
> YouTube
> X (Twitter)
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FAQ
How many episodes does African Cities have?
African Cities currently has 30 episodes available.
What topics does African Cities cover?
The podcast is about Urban, Research, Development, Podcasts, City, Social Sciences, Science and Government.
What is the most popular episode on African Cities?
The episode title 'Gender equity with Rachel Tolhurst' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on African Cities?
The average episode length on African Cities is 40 minutes.
How often are episodes of African Cities released?
Episodes of African Cities are typically released every 28 days, 18 hours.
When was the first episode of African Cities?
The first episode of African Cities was released on Mar 24, 2022.
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