Rapid urbanisation is largely taking place in secondary cities. There are nearly 900 secondary cities in Africa. They play a variety of roles in national and regional development, yet secondary cities are ill-prepared, financially poor, institutionally weak and facing multiple challenges to exercise their mandate and contribute to the sustainable transition in the region.
An in-depth analysis in 3 cities (Arua, Koudougou and Nkayi) provides lessons learnt and proposes an agenda for the development of secondary cities in Africa. This discussion workshop will give a brief overview of the results of this study followed by an interactive discussion with experts on the growing importance of secondary cities in Africa’s urbanisation and the potential avenues to strengthen their role in sustainable, inclusive and environmentally-conscious urban development. What role and function do secondary cities have in the wider development context?
- the EU's international role | international cooperation
- Friday 10 March 2023, 11:00 - 12:30 (CET)
Practical information
- When
- Friday 10 March 2023, 11:00 - 12:30 (CET)
- Where
- Webex Meetings
- Languages
- English, French
- Organisers
- International Partnerships InfoPoint
Description
The project “The Role and Functions of Secondary Cities in the Wider Development Picture” was commissioned by the Directorate-General for International Partnerships, Unit F4 - Sustainable Transport and Urban Development to ACCIONA Ingenieria. It makes an in-depth analysis in 3 cities: Arua (Uganda), Koudougou (Burkina Faso) and Nkayi (Congo). A scoping report was produced in the first quarter of the project unveiling Africa’s urbanisation and the different challenges faced by secondary cities and the potential they represent for Africa’s urbanisation. Interviews with various stakeholders enriched the vast literature review.
A methodological framework was designed to make an in-depth analysis of the 3 cities, focusing on 6 dimensions:
- governance
- citizenship, population and demographic trends
- economy
- services and infrastructure
- environment
- spatial form and built environment
City specific reports were prepared. The findings and conclusions reveal that secondary cities face multiple challenges that hinder their role in the wider development context where they are located. There is a systemic problems of poor revenues and high dependency on central governments' transfers and grants, an acute shortage of basic infrastructure, inadequate planning to absorb the influx of migrants and the demographic pressure for land, infrastructure, housing, employment, services and so on. An agenda for development of secondary cities was proposed that highlighted areas for positive intervention, also for development cooperation, in governance, local-national relations, spatial planning, municipal finance, infrastructure development and capacity building.
Speakers
- Lars Gronvald, Head of the urban development section, Directorate-General for International Partnerships, Unit F4 - Sustainable Transport and Urban Development
- Firdaous Ousidhaum, Special Adviser of the UCLG Secretary General
- Claudio Acioly Jr, Senior Manager and Team Leader, ACCIONA Ingenieria
- Stephanie Loose, Senior Global Shelter Cluster Coordinator, Division of Resilience and Solutions, UNHCR
- Moderated by Carley Pennink, Assistant Professor, Governance and Strategic-Action Planning and PPPs, Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies
Language of conference: English and French
Language of Q&A session: English and French
Registration
