Governing Cities in Africa: Politics and Policies by Simon Bekker

ISBN: 9780796924162

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HSRC Press (May 1, 2013)

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages

Rather than grouping African nations by Anglophone, Francophone, and Lusophone historical influences as many books do, this study employs a novel approach in discussing them: thematic instead of single-city chapters. The book argues that cities in sub-Saharan Africa provide the pivot around which issues of policy, practice, planning, and service delivery turn, at different scales and from the top down as well as from the bottom up. Each chapter is written by multiple authors, each of whom displays a depth of knowledge of one of three or more cities treated in each case. Party politics, for example, is examined at city level while urban security is demonstrated within both state and nonstate contexts. This account will interest scholars of African and urban studies in addition to urban policymakers and practitioners.