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Cities in the sub-Saharan Africa region present challenges to the urban and regionalplanning profession, city managers, leaders, educationists and dwellers (Rakodi, 1997,2001; McGill, 1988; Diaw, Nnkya & Watson, 2002). This is at a time when Africa is urbanisingfaster than any other region (UN-Habitat, 2008), calling for a rethinking of planning torespond to existing needs. Although the current urbanisation level is at 39.1% (UN-Habitat,2008), it is projected to increase to over 50% by 2025. This outstanding demographic shifton the African continent and particularly in the sub-Saharan region presents current andfuture urban challenges. In addition to the future challenges, the unresolved questionas to whether existing and much utilised models of urban development offer solutionsto the planning needs in the region should be investigated, although it is important torecognise the failures of locally designed initiatives. The models have been critiqued widely(Brockerhoff, 2000; Arimah & Adeagbo, 2000) and this is not the focus of this article. However,it is necessary to recognise that the planning profession has relied on these models throughthe planning education system. Notwithstanding the challenges of resources, leadership,and political dispensations, planning education systems have played a role in influencingand shaping urban development in the region. Although planning models have beencritiqued, planning education systems have received less attention in respect of theirrole in influencing the development pathways of cities in sub-Saharan Africa. Likewise,planning education systems have not adequately been viewed as points of entry inplanning innovation for new urban Africa. Drawing from experiences of cities in the region,two urban development processes can be discerned: first, the explosion of some citiesparticularly former colonial administrative or economic hubs and, second, the fast growthof secondary cities. There are also many small rural trading centres and 'hamlets' withdensities comparable to neighbourhoods of the large-cities. The latter, conceptualisedin this article as urbanisation by implosion, is not properly accounted for in the nationalstatistical reports. Several drivers are responsible for this urbanisation, including populationdynamics, legislative designation, and increasing densities in rural trading centres. Thechallenges of social service provision, sustainable economic development, housingdelivery, urban governance, spatial development guidance and urban environmentalmanagement are yet to be thoroughly analysed and rethought in planning education inthe context of addressing the existing needs. This article examines the planning educationsystem and how it has influenced the nature and shape of cities in sub-Saharan Africa, theoutcome of which may not have substantively responded to existing needs. This articlewill also identify possible points of innovation in planning education that may create adifference in addressing the existing needs in sub-Saharan Africa.

Urban governance presents the most daunting and challenging task for sub-Saharan African countries in this century (Rakodi, 1997: 3; Rakodi, 2001; 5; McGill, 1988; 6). Africa is urbanizing faster than any other region. The level of urbanization stands at 39.1%, with annual rates of growth ranging between 8% and 13%. It is estimated that by 2025 half of the African population will be urban. This demographic shift, particularly in the sub-Saharan region, presents major problems for urban management. Although urban management programs of infrastructure development, financial management, economic development, environmental planning, spatial development mechanisms and social services provision continue to be enhanced, there is a mismatch between the program outcomes and need. Due to this shortfall, alternative strategies have been sought but with little documented evidence of successes, failures and lessons because of limited evaluation. The importance of research-informed policy is underscored by the apparent disconnect between actors in the urban field. These actors include city managers, researchers, political leaders and most important, communities. The latter are often disregarded yet they largely influence the development path and shape the fabric of urban space. Even where communities are engaged, they exert less influence than other actors on urban policies and programs. This paper examines how participatory action research is changing the relationships between researchers, communities and city authorities in a search for alternative approaches to address urban poverty and environmental challenges in Kampala – in particular service delivery, solid waste management and flood control. Based on an action-research and development project conducted in Kampala since 2006, there is evidence that communities can be galvanized not only to design solutions to their problems, but also to engage with city authorities through information sharing platforms about their needs and thus bolster outcomes of urban development programs through improved governance.

Urban governance presents the most daunting and challenging task for sub-Saharan African countries in this century (Rakodi, 1997: 3; Rakodi, 2001; 5; McGill, 1988; 6). Africa is urbanizing faster than any other region. The level of urbanization stands at 39.1%, with annual rates of growth ranging between 8% and 13%. It is estimated that by 2025 half of the African population will be urban. This demographic shift, particularly in the sub-Saharan region, presents major problems for urban management. Although urban management programs of infrastructure development, financial management, economic development, environmental planning, spatial development mechanisms and social services provision continue to be enhanced, there is a mismatch between the program outcomes and need. Due to this shortfall, alternative strategies have been sought but with little documented evidence of successes, failures and lessons because of limited evaluation. The importance of research-informed policy is underscored by the apparent disconnect between actors in the urban field. These actors include city managers, researchers, political leaders and most important, communities. The latter are often disregarded yet they largely influence the development path and shape the fabric of urban space. Even where communities are engaged, they exert less influence than other actors on urban policies and programs. This paper examines how participatory action research is changing the relationships between researchers, communities and city authorities in a search for alternative approaches to address urban poverty and environmental challenges in Kampala – in particular service delivery, solid waste management and flood control. Based on an action-research and development project conducted in Kampala since 2006, there is evidence that communities can be galvanized not only to design solutions to their problems, but also to engage with city authorities through information sharing platforms about their needs and thus bolster outcomes of urban development programs through improved governance.

Although African cities are nodes of scalable solutions to climate uncertainty, adaptation efforts rarely build on the gender-climate nexus for sustainability. This article examines how gender ideologies intersect with climate risks, based on case study findings from Kampala in Uganda. Climatic hazards in Kampala include prolonged dry spells and seasonal floods; which destroy infrastructure, contaminate air and lead to unprecedented spread of cholera and malaria. Both conventional and emancipatory gender ideologies are characteristic of how the gender-climate nexus shapes adaptation at neighborhood scale. Women, as custodians of domestic hygiene, navigate the health risks of flooding through trade-offs among competing uses of their time and labour, as men comply with the masculinity code of family safety to repair flooded homes and drainages. Emancipatory gender ideologies on the other hand are manifested by women's and men's agency to adopt alternative energy sources and urban greening that have potential for sustainability.

Urbanization is one of the critical global trends shaping the future of humanity. At the same time, it has been argued that full development requires an urbanized environment. This paper attempts to examine and characterize the major phases of urbanization in Uganda and what this means for urban policy planning and poverty reduction in the country. Although the history of urbanization in Uganda is relatively young compared to other East African countries, the rate of urban development is reported to be one of the highest in the world. However, little effort is being made to seize the opportunities and maximize the potential benefits of urban development, as well as reduce its potentially negative consequences. The urban development path of Uganda can be classified into five phases, referred to in this paper as transitions, and these are characterized with planning systems that are partly malfunctioning, partly wobbly and incomplete, and partly non-existent. Pertinent socioeconomic, environmental and political problems that are insurmountable for urban planning and management are a feature of the urban areas in the country. Most importantly, welfare and poverty indicators have not shown marked improvements (in absolute terms) for the urban population over the last 50 years. This paper argues for a strong urban planning policy that takes into account the rate of urbanization being experienced in Uganda today, the failure of which will lead to increasing marginalization of city residents.

Studies of infrastructure have demonstrated broad differences between Northern and Southern cities, and deconstructed urban theory derived from experiences of the networked urban regions of the global North. This includes critiques of the universalization of the historically-culturally produced normative ideal of universal, uniform infrastructure. We introduce the notion of "heterogeneous infrastructure configurations" (HICs) as a way to analyze urban infrastructure that builds on postcolonial critiques of knowledge, as well as ethnographies of everyday Southern urbanisms. We argue that the notion of HIC helps us to move beyond technological and performative accounts of actually existing infrastructures to provide an analytical lens through which to compare different configurations. Our approach enables a clearer analysis of infrastructural artifacts not as individual objects but as parts of geographically spread socio-technological configurations: configurations which might involve many different kinds technologies, relations, capacities and operations, entailing different risks and power relationships. We use examples from ongoing research on sanitation and waste in Kampala, Uganda- a city in which service delivery is characterized by multiplicity, overlap, disruption and inequality- to demonstrate the kinds of research questions that emerge when thinking through the notion of HICs. ; QC 20171102 ; Heterogenous Infrastructure Configurations in Uganda Project HICCUP

Africa's urbanization rate has increased steadily over the past three decades and is reported to be faster than in any other region in the world . It is estimated that by 2030, over half of the African population will be living in urban areas . But the nature of Africa's urbanization and subsequent form of cities is yet to be critically analyzed in the context of city authorities' readiness to address the challenges . Evidence is also suggesting that urbanization in African countries is increasingly associated with the high economic growth that has been observed in the last two decades . Both underlying and proximate drivers are responsible for the urbanization, and these include population dynamics, economic growth, legislative designation, increasing densities in rural centers, as well as the growth of mega cities such as Lagos, Cairo and Kinshasa, that are extending to form urban corridors . With the opportunities of urbanization in Sub–Saharan Africa, there are also challenges in the development and management of these cities . Those challenges include provision of social services, sustainable economic development, housing development, urban governance, spatial development guidance and environmental management, climate change adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk reduction . The challenge involves dealing with the development and infrastructure deficit, in addition to required adaption to and mitigation of climate change . This paper examines the current state of urban management in Africa .

La tasa de urbanización de África se ha incrementado constantemente a lo largo de las tres últimas décadas, y se reporta que es más veloz que en cualquiera otra región del mundo. Se estima que, para el año 2030, más de la mitad de la población africana estará viviendo en áreas urbanas. Pero todavía no se analiza críticamente la naturaleza de la urbanización africana y las posibles formas de las ciudades, en el contexto del grado de preparación de las autoridades de dichas ciudades para enfrentar los desafíos. La evidencia también sugiere que la urbanización está asociada de manera cada vez más estrecha con el alto crecimiento económico que se ha registrado en las últimas dos décadas. Hay varios impulsores, tanto subyacentes como próximos, responsables del proceso; éstos incluyen la dinámica demográfica, el crecimiento económico, la designación legislativa, el incremento de la densidad en centros rurales, y que mega ciudades como Lagos, El Cairo y Kinshasa se están extendiendo hasta formar conurbados. Con las oportunidades de urbanización en África Subsahariana, surgen también los desafíos para el desarrollo y administración de estas ciudades. Estos desafíos incluyen la provisión de servicios sociales, el desarrollo económico sustentable, el desarrollo de vivienda, la gobernanza urbana, la orientación del desarrollo en el espacio y el manejo ambiental, la adaptación y mitigación ante el cambio climático y la reducción del riesgo de desastres. El desafío exige enfrentar los déficits de desarrollo e infraestructura, además de medidas para adaptarse al cambio climático y tratar de mitigar sus efectos. Este trabajo examina el estado actual de la administración urbana en África.