Can satellite cities help solve Africa’s urbanisation challenges?
Many have failed to live up the hype
FOR ALL but the well-off, living in an African city can be dispiriting. Home is often a cramped shack in a fetid slum. Getting to work, if there is any, means navigating rutted streets and manic traffic. Unlit alleys give cover to ne’er-do-wells, making the trudge home even more hazardous. Given all this, it would not be unreasonable to assume that few people would want to live in Africa’s cities. Yet every year millions gamble on swapping a prospect-free rural life for a potentially fortune-changing urban one, however Dickensian.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Are satellites the solution?”
Middle East & Africa January 13th 2024
From the January 13th 2024 edition
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