Building Sustainable and Inclusive Cities: Lessons from East Africa

Caleb Okereke: “The history of cities is a focal point to viewing their future or similarly conceptualizing novel futuristic cities. This piece dives into the racial underpinnings at the heart of two African cities, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, a purview that I deem absolutely necessary simply because their historical segregation shows up in new ways today. In essence, our cities will continue to keep out the poor until we reckon with and make changes to their historical mandate.”

CO: “I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and I have observed a lot of similarities in our approach to city building in West Africa compared to what I have seen play out in East Africa, where I’ve lived for the past few years now. In one of my favorite TED talks, Nigerian writer OluTimehin Adegbeye interrogates how cities determine belonging and the ejection of groups considered expendable.”

CO: “I might be a bit biased because I reported and wrote this story myself, but I think it contains one of the best examples of how ‘cities’ can be inclusive and centered on/working with the very communities they are built to serve. While Wakanda had vibranium, Okere City has the shea tree. This war torn village transforming into a city has some lessons for the world—and it is imperative we listen and learn.”

CO: “Why do smart cities fail? At best it is because they aim too high, but at worst it is because they fundamentally prioritize modernization even to the detriment of existing systems. What I gather from this report by Carey Baraka on Kenya’s Konza city is simply that, but also that there will continue to be a huge disparity between ideation and implementation until that introspection is done.”

CO: “Let’s cross over to Senegal where the whole Akon City idea began. What I found really striking about this feature is that we get to see and hear from the people who live next to the places where a smart city is planned, people who are resisting being collateral damage, who feel a blend of excitement and anxiety. That is an important viewpoint.”

CO: “For a project like Akon City to begin and take flight, there is a complete assumption that indigenous people or locals have no novel ideas and do not essentially know what is best for themselves. This approach is consistent with colonialism and is equally dangerous. I appreciate that it is brought forward in this analysis, which questions the capitalism, anti-Blackness, and disregard of local people present in city projects like Akon City.”

CO: “Authoritarianism, colonialism, and elitism. These three words come close to summarising Africa’s obsession with mega cities. In this analysis, Dafe Oputu examines the effect a fixation of this sort can have on city planning and what divesting from it looks like.”

CO: “What I feel in this instance is curiosity. While I don’t think it’s accurate to describe it as Africa’s first sustainable city, I am primarily interested in seeing how Rwanda’s first green city comes together. If the country’s apparent sustainability successes in the last few years are anything to go by, then stakes are high.”

CO: “I’ve seen many opinions that propose mega cities can only exist without slums and/or without poor people. This piece on how small but deliberate actions are having a ripple effect in a Kenyan slum proves a point I have long believed—that slums are a response, not the problem, and the quality and effectiveness of that response can be crafted.”

CO: “The lesson from this interactive feature on Congo’s equatorial forest where locals have been tasked with protecting Peat, a rare type of mud that can potentially save the world, is one that I have seen with many city building projects. Indigenous people are entrusted with the responsibility to protect resources or give up land for mega cities, but what do they stand to gain?”

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