Thinking Ahead with SEI and KTH: Africa and The New Urban Agenda, Oct 5
KTH and SEI invite policy-makers, urbanists/ urban scholars, aid workers, journalists and anyone interested in sustainable urban transformations to this seminar, for a discussion about cities, Africa and the New Urban Agenda.
About
By 2050, two thirds of the global population will live in urban areas, and nearly 90% of urban population growth will take place in low- and middle income countries. Africa is currently growing faster than any other region. The negative consequences are well known, with millions of people in undignified and dangerous environments. But urban growth is also accompanied by higher literacy, democratic space and improved health, as well as economic opportunities. Informal settlements that may appear to be dysfunctional pockets of underdevelopment are bustling with entrepreneurship and creativity. New solutions emerge and megacities like Lagos and Addis Abeba invest billions in cutting-edge public transport systems.
Do we need to revise our thinking about development and sustainability in Africa’s cities? Will African cities “leapfrog” to green service-based society, skipping the environmental disasters of industrialism altogether? How does this relate to the Habitat 3 meeting in Quito this year, when the global community meets to agree on an Urban Agenda for the coming 20 years?