Africa is not urbanising as rapidly as we think. What are the implications for the business world, which has been counting on an emerging urban middle class? Or for the possibilities for local economic development, whether led by consumers, entrepreneurs or the state?
There is much to be commended, and much to be weeded out, in Foster's vision for a new London airport in the Thames Estuary and the proposal for a new transport, utilities and data spine running the length of the country.
A bold future may await rust belt cities in North America and Europe if asset manager Pippa Malmgren's vision of smart manufacturing hubs and recent research on revitalised industrial centres come to fruition.
While economic development policies might contradict and undermine the needs of the urban poor, slums like Dharavi may incubate industries that can export to the world and should be embraced.
While Bangalore has a longer history of globalisation than Gurgaon, both are facing major inequality and infrastructure deficits, and both have the human capital to overcome these problems.
The international community is increasingly optimistic about the wealth generated in Africa's cities. But with rising slum populations projected from the same trends, how shall the former overcome the latter?
Andrew Fleming (Twitter: @AndrewSFleming) works as the Senior Researcher at the Cape Town Partnership, a non-profit company dedicated to the…
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The Global Urbanist is an online magazine reviewing urban affairs and urban development issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world.
Its readers are drawn from the urban policy and international development sectors, and include urban planners, officers in local, national or international government agencies, civil society leaders, and researchers.
