African Urban Institute is a think tank that researches on urban development in Africa. It conducts research in urban development with three thematic areas: sustainable cities, prosperous cities and inclusive cities. Its focus areas include,

urban mobility Mobilities is a contemporary paradigm in the social sciences that explores the movement of people (human migration, individual mobility, travel, transport), ideas (see e.g. meme) and things (transport), as well as the broader social implications of ...

, land use planning,

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...

environmental planning Environmental planning is the process of facilitating decision making to carry out land development with the consideration given to the natural environment, social, political, economic and governance factors and provides a holistic framework to ...

and urban

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...

. Its stated mission is to "Unlock urban development in Africa through better ideas and research." As a non-profit organisation, African Urban Institute describes itself as independent and non-partisan.

Publications

African Urban Institute produces a biennial State of African Cities report. It also publishes discussion papers, briefing papers and ViewPoints which are regular commentaries on urban development in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The African Urban Institute Press publishes books and journals from the institute's own research as well as publishing work from other authors. The books include, ''Dystopia: How the Tyranny of Specialists Fragment African Cities,'' ''Cape to Cairo: To Race to Sustainable Urban Transport in Africa.''

Programs

In 2018 the African Urban Institute established the African Urban Case Studies Initiative, an online repository of urban development case studies across Africa which seek to promote intra-continental policy transfer on urban development. African Urban Institute also convene a biennial Timbuktu Forum on

Urban Development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

, a high-level forum that brings various urban development stakeholders to discuss urban development issues in

. Named after the ancient Malian city,

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...

, the

Fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

is awarded to early career urban development practitioners as fellows and to senior practitioners as senior fellows. The collaborations of the two seek to promote knowledge exchange between the young generation and the old.

Organizations

The

African Planning Society The African Planning Society (APS) is a professional association representing the field of urban planning in Africa. Its mission is to create African communities that are more prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive. History The APS was forme ...

is the membership organisation of urban planning professionals, civil society members and policymakers that advance planning of cities in Africa. Founded in 2016, formerly as African Urban Community of Practice, it was reorganised as African Planning Society in 2019. With a membership of more than 1,200 planners, the African Planning Society brings together planning professionals and urban development stakeholders across Africa.

References

Citations

External links