Urban Dynamics in Africa

Measuring, Monitoring and Shaping Change through Multiple Lenses
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-39592-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 128 Seiten, Format (B × H): 170 mm x 244 mm, Gewicht: 413 g

Urban Dynamics in Africa explores how African cities are being transformed and how that change can be understood through diverse methods and perspectives. Bringing together contributions from across the continent, this book examines urban transformation as a complex process that is at once spatial, social, environmental, and political.

Understanding African urban change requires not only technical tools and data but also attention to local knowledge, governance, and everyday lived experience. The chapters address key issues including urban sprawl, mobility in informal settlements, thermal comfort and climate vulnerability, and community-led placemaking, drawing on a wide range of methods such as geospatial analysis, participatory mapping, environmental monitoring, and qualitative research. Featuring case studies from Ghana, Namibia, Mozambique, and South Africa, this volume highlights both the diversity of African urban realities and the shared challenges of building more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable cities.

Accessible yet grounded in current research, this book will be of interest to scholars, students, practitioners, and policymakers concerned with urban change in Africa and with the wider question of how cities can be shaped more equitably in a rapidly urbanising world. The chapters were originally published in African Geographical Review.

Zielgruppe

Academic, Postgraduate, Undergraduate Advanced, and Undergraduate Core

Autoren/Hrsg.

Henriques, Cristina Delgado

Ferreira, Victor

Cavaco, Cristina

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Städtebau, Stadtplanung (Architektur)
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik
• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Regional- & Raumplanung Stadtplanung, Kommunale Planung
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Historische & Regionale Volkskunde
• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Geographie: Allgemeines, Karten & Atlanten

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Urban dynamics in Africa: measuring, monitoring and shaping change through multiple lenses 1. Geospatial assessment of urban sprawl in Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, Ghana from 1991 to 2023 2. Mapping mobility in Namibia’s secondary cities informal settlements: a case study of Rehoboth 3. Indoor thermal comfort in informal settlements: a case study of Mafalala, Maputo 4. Placemaking for inclusive public spaces in South African townships: a community-led approach 5. Settlement-level economic performance as a factor influencing working-age population migration in South Africa 6. Urban sprawl, urban form, and urban land use pattern: examining urban planning response to the causes and effects of urban sprawl in Kumasi, Ghana.

Über Autor(innen)

Cristina Delgado Henriques is Geographer and Urban Planner, Associate Professor at the Lisbon School of Architecture, with a Ph.D. in Urban Planning. Her research focuses on GIS, spatial analysis, and African urban studies, and she is actively engaged in coordinating funded projects in fundamental and applied research in the Global South.

Victor Ferreira is Associate Professor at Lisbon School of Architecture, lecturing in Drawing, Geometry, Visualisation, 3D Modelling, Rendering, and Conservation. He holds a Ph.D. in Regional and Urban Planning (2011) and a degree in Architecture (1994). His research focuses on digital 3D documentation of the built environment for conservation and restoration.

Cristina Cavaco, Ph.D., is Associate Professor with Habilitation at the Lisbon School of Architecture. Her work focuses on urbanism and spatial planning, spanning urban policy, tourism, and morphology. Between 2012 and 2016, she served as Deputy Director General at DG Territory, contributing to Portugal's spatial planning laws and national strategies, and represented Portugal in several European cooperation and expert groups.