ABSTRACT
African cities continue to face enormous challenges in terms of rapid urban growth, substantial urban poverty and a multitude of other social problems. In a recent report on the state of African cities, evidence is presented in terms of the reality that African cities are currently in a state of demographi c, economic, technological, environmental and socio-political transition (UN-Habitat, 2014). Moreover, African cities are faced with enormous population growth associated with wide-spread poverty across the continent. This report further argues that African cities are too often viewed through a Western paradigmatic approach to urbanism and urban living and what is required is a comprehensive re-think of urban management in an African context in order to attain Africa’s vision of sustainabl e human settlements in terms of human development and prosperity for all. In this context, there is a growing demand from both the public and the private sectors for the need to develop solutions to the creation and management of sustainable African cities (Michell, 2013).
