Urban land grabs in Africa?

Abstract

Africa is rapidly urbanising. New dynamics of investments and mobilities ensue the expansive urbanisation, generating transformative effects on the continents urban land and built environment. The transformative effects are also on the future prospects for sustainable living conditions for African urban dwellers. This special issue of Built Environment has collected articles that carefully observe these effects, in order to explore whether these are indeed leading to ‘urban land grabs’, which take place in new forms of commodification and speculation of land and properties. We recognise that the trend of commodification and speculation is likely to intensify, as the new modernisation agenda is being propagated in the name of pursuing urban sustainability and resilience, corresponding to the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, inclusive urban development is also debated in these international agendas, as ordinary citizens increasingly confront livelihood and land use changes, spatial alteration and social segregation, or physical displacement. In this context, we know little about how African urban dwellers’ experiences could be understood and used to envision genuinely sustainable and inclusive urban development. In this editorial, we give an overview of various emerging urban land investments and how they are experienced by urban dwellers. As shown in all the articles of this special issue, we argue that the far reaching impact of increased investments and mobilities leading to commodification and land speculation as well as the urban dwellers’ agency to navigate the impact deserve more attention in discussions on sustainable and inclusive urban development in Africa.