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Akin Ajao is president and founder of Sustainable Impact International, a non profit think tank focused on advocacy, innovation and development. He is a management and land resource consultant based in Lagos, Nigeria, a member of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Akin has consulted for the Federal Government of Nigeria under the World Bank & DFID sponsored Economic Reform and Governance project and has been involved in engagements with Federal and State Governments focusing on institutional strengthening, capacity building, infrastructure and development advisory services. For enquiries: siinternational@ymail.com proakin@gmail.com
Artistic impression of TATU City That urbanisation continues to grow across Africa is not disputable. My concern is with how this trend is managed. If indeed we intend for our urban areas to attain true Mega-city status, such as the likes of Tokyo, Seoul, New York or Shanghai, we must develop an economically viable urban development strategy that will ensure the delivery of the necessary infrastructure, housing and social amenities to support our land use plans. Our failure to follow through on this will only result in the creation of Mega-slums over the next decade. I am saddened to think that our suburbs and satellite districts, which should serve as model communities, reflecting lessons learnt from the development of the metropolis are characterised by poor layouts, squatter settlements and a glaring absence of infrastructure , social amenities and adequate development control. It is time to chart a way forward. A workable private-sector led approach to urban development can be seen in Kenyas novel TATU City project.
There are two key lessons from TATU. The first is that city development projects are viable if the necessary legal, financial and institutional frameworks are in place. The second is that it has become clear that Governments alone cant manage urbanisation without the intervention of private investors. A private sector driven and Government regulated urban development strategy will no doubt serve as the catalyst towards sustainable development in SubSaharan Africa. This approach does not represent an all embracing solution to our development challenge, however it does represent a radical shift from failures of the past. Now is the time to build cities, and not slums.