This week our session was led by Nic Cheeseman, whose insights really brought this topic to life. Rapid population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has led to urbanisation at a remarkable rate, disrupting the dynamics of development politics to create distinct urban arenas of political activity.

Why is Africa urbanising?

In many rural, developing communities around the world, the promise of urban areas as opportunities for employment attracts many to migrate. I personally experienced this in Kathmandu, where the city was bustling one day and then empty the next, as workers returned home to their families in the hills to celebrate Dashain. In the session it was interesting to learn just how much urban workers send in remittances back to their rural families – far out-performing aid – which is something I will apply to my dissertation.

What is the impact on poverty?

Opportunity doesn’t always abound however, and so the attractiveness of urban areas can often be an illusion (Ferguson, 1999). Urban planning can often lag behind, with a lack of adequate housing, services, and sanitation leading to the rise of ‘slums’. However, Holston (2009) disagrees with the use of this over-simplified and disempowering term, arguing that population growth in cities can instead inspire innovation. This reminded me of the work of Julian Simon (1981), who countered sensationalist neo-Malthusians to argue an increase in population pushes collective improvement.

Does urbanisation improve democratisation?

So, urbanisation can be a driver for change, creating radical new ideas among a mobilised working class, who often vote against a disinterested national government (Cheeseman and de Gromont, 2017). In Lagos, this led to the creation of a sub-national government, which was able to generate innovative development solutions for the city through a statebuilding project predicated on ethnopopulism (Cheeseman and Larmer, 2015). This exposed the ‘dodgy’ side of development politics to me, as I learned just how influential methods such as clientelism can be, something we will be exploring further next week.

References

Cheeseman, N., and de Gromont, D. (2017) Managing a mega-city: learning the lessons from Lagos. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 33(3): 457-477.

Cheeseman, N., and Larmer, M. (2015) Ethnopopulism in Africa: opposition mobilization in diverse and unequal societies. Democratization 22(1): 22-50.

Ferguson, J. (1999) Expectations of Modernity: Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the Zambian Copperbelt. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

Holston, J. (2009). Insurgent citizenship in an era of global urban peripheries. City & Society, 21(2): 245-267.

Simon, J. L. (1981) The ultimate resource. Oxford: Martin Robertson.