Secondary cities are vital for Africa’s future

and their citizens know best how to improve them

What’s the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Cities and Urbanization?

The resilience of many African countries is threatened by the concentration of resources in their capitals.
Secondary cities often suffer from a financing gap that hinders their development.
Residents should be consulted in urbanization plans that deliver sustainable development in secondary cities.

Source : WE Forum 2022

More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and many urbanites reside in one of the 33 “megacities” with at least 10 million inhabitants. Urbanization can threaten the quality of life, but cities also provide the testbeds needed to come up with related solutions. Cities everywhere have been dramatically impacted by COVID-19, which has closed businesses and prompted a reassessment of public spaces. It will only be through the collective efforts of governments, the private sector, and the public – and by harnessing transformative technologies – that we will we be able to rebuild in ways that realize the true potential of cities.

This briefing is based on the views of a wide range of experts from the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network and is curated in partnership with Dr. Harvey Neo, Dr. John Powers, Mr. Poon King Wang, and Prof. Chan Heng Chee from the Lee Kuan Yew Center for Innovative Cities, Singapore University of Technology and Design.

Curation : Created by Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), licensed for personal/academic use only, not for reproduction.