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Development visions for African cities are typically oriented toward replicating the gleaming skylines of Dubai or Singapore. These approaches are not well-suited to African contexts, often resulting in urban development that worsens inequality, deepens dependence on unsustainable resources, and accelerates emissions. Africa’s cities are amongst the fastest growing in the world, and have enormous potential to pioneer better forms of urban development. Since 2022, the Urban Futures Studio has been working with the African Centre for Cities (ACC) at the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Cape Town and the Centre for Sustainability Transitions (CST) at Stellenbosch ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ on the African Urban Futures Project, which aims to open up possibilities for more just and sustainable cities. In addition to pursuing academic publications, the project has adopted a multi-pronged approach to achieving impact, combining public-facing knowledge products with public visioning workshops and high-level policy engagements.

Infrahub.Africa

In 2023, the website was launched to facilitate peer-to-peer learning about interesting innovations in urban service provision taking place in Africa. Over 60 case studies have been written up by experts and researchers at various universities around the continent, showcasing infrastructure initiatives that benefit people experiencing poverty, create local jobs and have a reduced or positive ecological impact. The website is optimised for mobile phones and available in 5 African languages to make the content accessible to as many people on the continent as possible. Ongoing social media and promotion campaigns raise awareness of the site; to date, it has had over 12,000 active users.

Participatory visioning processes

Earlier this year, a series of 3 participatory visioning processes across Africa kicked off in Cape Town, South Africa. Surfacing the voices of those who are not normally included in city visioning exercises, the workshops are led by local partner organisations embedded in low-income communities, and connected to longer-term planning or funded development efforts to ensure that the ideas can be taken further. In August, a workshop co-hosted by the Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) in Embu, Kenya, unleashed the optimism and creativity of local youth with newspaper headlines and news reports from the future. A follow-up workshop will explore how to translate these ideas into action. A similar workshop with the Collaborative Media Advocacy Platform (CMAP) in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, is planned for later this year.

Impacting policy

With the help of local academic partners in Africa, the project is also pursuing policy impact. Prof. Edgar Pieterse from the ACC has played a pivotal role in connecting the ideas being developed to the first Africa Urban Forum in Addis Ababa in September 2024, the World Urban Forum in Cairo in November 2024, and high-level policy discussions at the G20, currently being hosted by South Africa. Through rigorous scientific analysis, peer exchange, and narrative development, the ACC developed a bold urban agenda for the continent aligned to the vision of the African Union’s ‘Agenda 2063’ (see ), which informed discussions at the Urban20 meeting of mayors from G20 countries on 12-14 September in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The African Urban Futures project is pursuing impact in a part of the world that is becoming increasingly important geopolitically and in terms of its forecasted impact on resources and climate. It shows the potential for North-South collaborations when there are strong relationships with excellent local partners, and provides inspiration for other projects looking to achieve global impact. The project is currently funded until March 2026, and the Urban Futures Studio is exploring options for continuing this work. For more information, please contact Blake Robinson at p.b.robinson@uu.nl