This book provides a collection of insightful conceptual and empirical works that situate transport and mobility challenges in the unique context of individual countries and cities while highlighting commonalities across the African continent. Written from an interdisciplinary perspective, the book covers important themes in transport and mobility including the links between urbanization, urban structure, and accessibility; transport equity and poverty, non-motorized transport, public transport, and the challenges and opportunities of new and emerging transport technologies, and ICT-mediated mobility solutions. Each chapter engages with the normative imperatives that are critical to improving the transport and mobility situations of African urban areas now and in the future.

This book critically explores the relationship between mobility patterns, transport provision and urban development in East African cities. Bringing together contributions on the futures of mobility in urban East Africa, the chapters examine transport provision, mobility patterns, location-specific modes of transport and transformative factors for transport and mobility in the rapidly urbanising region. The book outlines different mobility needs to be addressed in transport planning to serve and shape the respective cities and examines the decision-making process in transport planning and the level of accountability to the public. The contributors show the dialectic between innovation in transport/mobility and urban development under rapid urbanisation and discusses how to practically integrate mobility and transport provision into urban development. This book will be of interest to scholars in urban planning, transport planning, transport geography, social sciences and African studies.

This book documents and analyses spatial planning in Ghana, providing a comprehensive and critical discussion of the evolving institutional and legal arrangements that have shaped and defined Ghana’s spatial planning system for more than seven decades; the contemporary policy instruments and mechanisms for articulating and implementing policies and proposals at multiple scales; and the formally established procedures for development management. It covers important themes in contemporary spatial planning discourse, including the evolving meaning, scope and purpose of spatial planning globally; the scales of spatial planning (i.e. national, regional, sub-regional and local); multi-level integration within spatial planning; public participation; the interface between urbanization, sustainable growth management and spatial planning; spatial planning and housing development; integrated spatial development and transportation planning; and spatial planning and the urban informal economy. Intended for undergraduate and graduate students, and academic researchers and practitioners/policy-makers in the multidisciplinary field of spatial planning, it appeals to readers seeking an international perspective on spatial planning systems and practices.

What challenges do pedestrians and cyclists face in cities of the developing world? What opportunities do these cities have to provide for walking and cycling? Based on in-depth research conducted in Cape Town (South Africa), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Nairobi (Kenya), this book explores these questions by presenting work on walking and cycling travel behaviour, the status of road safety in these cities, as well as an analysis of the infrastructure for walking and cycling, and the workings of the institutions responsible for planning for these modes. The book also presents case studies relating to particular opportunities and challenges, such as the development and evaluation of ‘walking bus’ interventions, and the opportunities micro-simulation of pedestrian interventions offers within a data-scarce environment. Non-motorized Transport Integration into Urban Transport Planning in Africa demonstrates that transport and urban planning remains situated in a logic of automobile-dependent transport planning and global city development. This logic of practice does not pay adequate attention to walking and cycling. It argues that a significant shift in both policy as well as political commitment is needed so as to prioritize walking and cycling as strategies for sustainable transport policy in urban Africa. This book will be a key text for practitioners and policy makers working in planning, transport policy and urban development in Africa, as well as students and scholars of African studies, development studies, urban geography, transport studies and sustainable development.

A multi-disciplinary examination of urban planning in Africa, exploring its history, and advocating for new approaches.

From local bike-sharing initiatives to overhauls of transport infrastructure, mobility is one of the most important areas in which modern cities are trying to realize a more sustainable future. Yet even as politicians and planners look ahead, there remain critical insights to be gleaned from the history of urban mobility and the unsustainable practices that still impact our everyday lives. United by their pursuit of a “usable past,” the studies in this interdisciplinary collection consider the ecological, social, and economic aspects of urban mobility, showing how historical inquiry can make both conceptual and practical contributions to the projects of sustainability and urban renewal.

Sustainable Urban Futures in Africa provides a variety of conventional and emerging theoretical frameworks to inform understandings and responses to critical urban development issues such as urbanisation, climate change, housing/slum, informality, urban sprawl, urban ecosystem services and urban poverty, among others, within the context of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Africa. This book addresses topics including challenges to spatial urban development, how spatial planning is delivered, how different urbanisation variables influence the development of different forms of urban systems and settlements in Africa, how city authorities could use old and new methods of land administration to produce sustainable urban spaces in Africa, and the role of local activism is causing important changes in the built environment. Chapters are written by a diverse range of African scholars and practitioners in urban planning and policy design, environmental science and policy, sociology, agriculture, natural resources management, environmental law, and politics. Urban Africa has huge resource potential – both human and natural resources – that can stimulate sustainable development when effectively harnessed. Sustainable Urban Futures in Africa provides support for the SDGs in urban Africa and will be of interest to students and researchers, professionals and policymakers, and readers of urban studies, spatial planning, geography, governance, and other social sciences.