scholarly journals On the conditions of ‘late urbanisation’

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802110326
Author(s):  
Sean Fox ◽  
Tom Goodfellow
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Variation ◽  
State Politics ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Urban Transition ◽  
Urban Futures ◽  
Sub Saharan

We are living through a global urban transition, but the timing of this transition has varied significantly across countries and regions. This geographic variation in timing matters, both theoretically and substantively. Yet contemporary debates on urbanism hinge primarily on questions of universalism versus particularism, at the expense of attention to how history and geography collide to shape urban processes. Specifically, they neglect the critical fact that urbanisation in many countries today is late within the context of the global urban transition. We argue that trajectories of contemporary urbanisation must be understood in relation to a suite of conditions unique to the late 20th and early 21st centuries and partly shaped by early urbanisation, including historically unprecedented demographic intensity, hyperglobalisation, centripetal state politics and the spectre of environmental catastrophe in the late Anthropocene. These factors condition the range of possibilities for late urbanisers in ways that did not apply to early urbanisers yet can also produce diverse outcomes depending on local circumstances. We draw on a comparison between countries in sub-Saharan Africa and China to illustrate why the conditions of late urbanisation matter, but also why they have produced highly variable outcomes and are not deterministic of urban futures.

The Urban Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

10.1068/c3p ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 466-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Kessides
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
National Development ◽  
Favourable Outcome ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Urban Transition ◽  
Energy Needs ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Sub Saharan

In this paper I ask how the ongoing processes of urban and local government development in Sub-Saharan Africa can and should benefit the countries, and what conditions must be met to achieve this favourable outcome. The region faces close to a doubling of the urban population in fifteen years. This urban transition poses an opportunity as well as a management challenge. Urban areas represent underutilised resources that concentrate much of the countries' physical, financial, and intellectual capital. Therefore it is critical to understand how they can better serve the national growth and poverty reduction agendas. The paper challenges several common ‘myths’ that cloud discourse about urban development in Africa. I also take a hard look at what the urban transition can offer national development, and what support cities and local governments require to achieve these results. I argue that, rather than devoting more attention to debating the urban contribution to development in Africa, real energy needs to be spent unblocking it.

scholarly journals The Geographic Variation of Surveillance and Zoonotic Spillover Potential of Influenza Viruses in Domestic Poultry and Swine

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn A Berger ◽  
David M Pigott ◽  
Francesca Tomlinson ◽  
David Godding ◽  
Sebastian Maurer-Stroh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
Geographic Variation ◽  
Swine Influenza ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Virus Surveillance ◽  
Domestic Poultry ◽  
Risk Areas ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Virus Emergence

Abstract Background Avian and swine influenza viruses circulate worldwide and pose threats to both animal and human health. The design of global surveillance strategies is hindered by information gaps on the geospatial variation in virus emergence potential and existing surveillance efforts. Methods We developed a spatial framework to quantify the geographic variation in outbreak emergence potential based on indices of potential for animal-to-human and secondary human-to-human transmission. We then compared our resultant raster model of variation in emergence potential with the global distribution of recent surveillance efforts from 359105 reports of surveillance activities. Results Our framework identified regions of Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Central America, and sub-Saharan Africa with high potential for influenza virus spillover. In the last 15 years, however, we found that 78.43% and 49.01% of high-risk areas lacked evidence of influenza virus surveillance in swine and domestic poultry, respectively. Conclusions Our work highlights priority areas where improved surveillance and outbreak mitigation could enhance pandemic preparedness strategies.

scholarly journals Pathways for Sustainable and Inclusive Cities in Southern and Eastern Africa through Urban Green Infrastructure?

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Titz ◽  
Sosten S. Chiotha
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Transition ◽  
Sub Saharan

Cities in sub-Saharan Africa are currently confronted with a multitude, and hitherto unexperienced, magnitude of transformative phenomena such as rising inequality, exclusion, poverty and increased residency in informal settlements. These stressors are posing challenges to cities in terms of housing, infrastructure and provision of basic services as well as climate change adaptation. Despite the high dynamics and novel characteristics of city transformation, this urban transition seems to take place rather ‘quietly’ and has, so far, obviously hardly been understood or appreciated by researchers and governments. Subsequently, the multifaceted and extremely challenging problems associated with the process of urbanisation cannot be adequately addressed. Green infrastructure (GI) is currently emerging as a concept for cost-effective urban sustainability and livelihood security. Preservation and provision of accessible urban green spaces is increasingly recognised as an essential part of the liveability of cities. Extensive literature review revealed that the systematic integration of GI concepts in urban planning is seen by an increasing number of researchers as an essential approach to tackle major current and future challenges. Based on the literature review, we suggest that broadening the concept of urban GI by linking it to governance and rights-based conceptualisations will have the potential to unlock more resourceful paths for sustainable, green, and inclusive urban development of cities in Southern and Eastern Africa.

scholarly journals AFRICA'S PROSPECTIVE URBAN TRANSITION

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Collier
Keyword(s):  
Urban Youth ◽  
Demographic Transition ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Average Height ◽  
Demographic Trend ◽  
Urban Transition ◽  
Major Exception ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Looking Back

AbstractThe headline demographics of sub-Saharan Africa appear to be reason for concern. Looking back, since Independence in the 1960s, the region has been the major exception to the global demographic trend of rising height: In some countries, average height has even been declining [eLife (2016)]. Looking forward, between now and 2050, the population is set to grow more rapidly than that of any other region. But the demographic transition that is typically of most concern to African governments is not about the size or stature of overall population, it is urbanization. Politicians fear the consequences of a restive urban youth: an Arab Spring repeated south of the Sahara. Many would like to slow the pace of urbanization.

scholarly journals Geographic Variation of Hypertension in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Study of South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 382-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.-B. Kandala ◽  
W. Tigbe ◽  
S. O. Manda ◽  
S. Stranges
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Geographic Variation ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan

scholarly journals Source-sink dynamics could sustain HIV epidemics in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Malawi

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin T. Okano ◽  
Katie Sharp ◽  
Laurence Palk ◽  
Sally Blower
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Geographic Variation ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Hiv Prevalence ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Heterosexual Transmission ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Mobility Data ◽  
Sub Saharan

AbstractBackground:Approximately 25.5 million individuals are infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Epidemics in this region are generalized, show substantial geographic variation in prevalence, and are driven by heterosexual transmission; populations are highly mobile. We propose that generalized HIV epidemics should be viewed as a series of micro-epidemics occurring in multiple connected communities. Using a mathematical model, we test the hypothesis that travel can sustain HIV micro-epidemics in communities where transmission is too low to be self-sustaining. We use Malawi as a case study.Methods:We first conduct a mapping exercise to visualize geographic variation in HIV prevalence and population-level mobility. We construct maps by spatially interpolating georeferenced HIV-testing and mobility data from a nationally representative population-level survey: the 2015-16 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey. To test our hypothesis, we construct a novel HIV epidemic model that includes three transmission pathways: resident-to-resident, visitor-caused and travel-related. The model consists of communities functioning as “sources” and “sinks”. A community is a source if transmission is high enough to be self-sustaining, and a sink if it is not.Results:HIV prevalence ranges from zero to 27%. Mobility is high, 27% of the population took a trip lasting at least a month in the previous year. Prevalence is higher in urban centers than rural areas, but long-duration travel is higher in rural areas than urban centers. We show that a source-community can sustain a micro-epidemic in a sink-community, but only if specific epidemiological and demographic threshold conditions are met. The threshold depends upon the level of transmission in the source- and sink-communities, as well as the relative sizes of the two communities. The larger the source than the sink, the lower transmission in the source-community needs to be for sustainability.Discussion:Our results support our hypothesis, and suggest that it may be rather easy for large urban communities to sustain HIV micro-epidemics in small rural communities; this may be occurring in northern Malawi. Visitor-generated and travel-related transmission may also be sustaining micro-epidemics in rural communities in other SSA countries with highly-mobile populations. It is essential to consider mobility when developing HIV elimination strategies.

Abstract MP73: Geographic Variation of Overweight and Obesity among Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: a Case Study of Nigeria

Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 129 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saverio Stranges ◽  
Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Geographic Variation ◽  
State Level ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Obesity Prevalence ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Nutritional Transition ◽  
Sub Saharan

Background: Nutritional research in sub-Saharan Africa has primarily focused on under-nutrition, particularly among vulnerable population subgroups such as women and children. However, there is growing evidence of an ongoing epidemiological and nutritional transition in these settings. Objective: This study aimed to examine the geographic variation of combined overweight and obesity prevalence at the state-level among women in Nigeria, while accounting for individual-level risk factors. Methods: Our analysis was based on the 2008 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), including 27,967 women aged 15 and over. Individual data were collected on socio-demographic variables, but were aggregated to the 31 states. We used a Bayesian geo-additive mixed model to map the geographic distribution of overweight/obesity at the state-level, accounting for individual-level risk factors. Results: The overall prevalence of combined overweight and obesity (body mass index ≥ 25) was 20.9%. In multivariate Bayesian geo-additive models, there were several significant associations between socio-demographic variables and prevalence of overweight/obesity. Specifically, higher education [odds ratio (OR) & 95% Credible Region (CR): 1.68 (1.38, 2.00)], higher wealth index [3.45 (2.98, 4.05)], living in urban settings [1.24 (1.14, 1.36)] and increasing age were all significantly associated with a higher prevalence of overweight/obesity. There was also a striking variation in overweight/obesity prevalence across ethnic groups and state of residence, the highest being in Cross River State, in south-eastern Nigeria [2.32 (1.62, 3.40)], the lowest in Osun State in south-western Nigeria [0.48 (0.36, 0.61)]. Conclusions: This study suggests distinct geographic patterns in the prevalence of combined overweight and obesity among Nigerian women, as well as the potential role of demographic, socio-economic and environmental factors driving the ongoing nutritional transition in these settings.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document