ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the patterns and processes of urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and reviews the adequacy of existing practices of measuring urban growth there. It begins with some historical context on the importance of settlement systems in SSA's demography, and highlights the slow and sporadic evolution of urbanization up to the nineteenth century and the great acceleration after the Second World War. The chapter aims to survey the contemporary dynamics, pointing notably to a slowdown in urban growth from the 1980s onwards and shows a projection indicating that on trends the overall urbanization level for the region would stabilize at not much over 50 per cent. It chapter provides some suggestions on ways of improving the collection and handling of data on urbanization and migration, with particular attention being given to the revision of Census procedures and their fuller integration with intelligence from remote sensing.
