Cities

Kilamba New City reportedly cost US$3.5 billion to build. Dr Chloé Buire interrogates the myth it is a “ghost town” and illustrates how the settlement has attracted young, upwardly mobile Angolans.

Chronicling experiences from Panguila, Dr Chloé Buire examines the rapid expansion of suburban Luanda, arguing that it provides insights into the Angolan regime’s vision for modernity.

Land is a “key fault line” in Kenya. Throughout East Africa land law reform has been pursued at the expense of substantive land reform. New laws have not been redistributive or transformative in a positive way.

Jeffrey Paller argues that as Ghana’s cities grow the challenge will be to prevent the creation of more informal settlements, the rise of unregulated transport systems and the deepening of urban inequalities.

L’impôt sur les terrains et sur les bâtiments pourra appuyer le développement économique et politique sur le plan local en Afrique.

In this interview Kanouté discusses his own experiences of participatory budgeting in Matam and the opportunities for a nationwide project with sustainable impact in Senegal.

Paul Adams tries to make sense of Lagos, its “free-spirited political elite” and the model of development which has seen it labelled a Nigerian exception.

Although never popular, taxation is an essential component of consensual and representative government. Property tax has been posited as the ideal source of income for municipal governments.

Speakers: Tom Goodfellow and Paula Meth (Sheffield Institute for International Development), Zainab Usman (Oxford University)

In this insightful and detailed interview, Jules Dumas Nguebou discusses how participatory budgeting has developed in Cameroon to ensure that local resources are effectively mobilised to meet community needs.