African Cities

Catalog description

This course frames development in the African urban context, by providing a theoretical understanding of why "we" study, what explains divergent development, what the fundamental differences are between growth and development? "Students will then examine what some of the drivers of urban growth and migration across the African continent are. The course evaluates traditional assumptions about economic growth and development by asking students to critically examine some of the challenges African cities will face in regard to democracy, governance and the allocation of funding for "the provision of infrastructure, changing demographics and migration, climate change, and social protection. African Cities addresses how these issues play out in primary and secondary cities as points of entry to understand issues related to social, economic, and political development. Students will examine participatory movements to address infrastructure delivery and housing shortages, and investment policies to address economic growth. Students will be asked to engage with the relationship between economic development and human development as well as to engage with the concept of formal versus informal in regards to economic development, policy, and urban planning.