The facts of Africa's rapid urbanisation are startling. By 2030 African cities will have grown by more than 350 million people and the continent will have surpassed the 50% urban mark. Yet, in the minds of policy makers, scholars and much of the general public, Africa remains a quintessential rural place. This lack of awareness and robust analysis means it is difficult to make a policy case for a more overtly 'urban agenda'. As a result, there is, across the continent, insufficient urgency directed to responding to the challenges and opportunities associated with the world's last major wave of urbanisation.

Drawing on the expertise of scholars and practitioners associated with the African Centre for Cities, and utilising a diverse array of case studies, the book provides comprehensive insight into the key issues - demographic, cultural, political, technical, environmental and economic - surrounding African urbanization.

Susan Parnell is an Urban Geographer in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (UCT). She is centrally involved in the African Centre for Cities, serving on its Executive. Prior to her appointment at UCT she taught in the Wits University Geography Department (Johannesburg) and the School of Oriental African Studies (London). She is the author of over 80 academic papers, 5 edited volumes and 2 co-authored books. She is on the Editorial boards of many specialist academic journals.

Edgar Pieterse is holder of the DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Urban Policy. He directs the African Centre for Cities and is Professor in the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, both at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He previously served as Special Advisor to the Premier of the Western Cape Provincial Government (2004-2007) and directed a number of urban policy think tanks before his stint in government. In addition, he is a founder member of Isandla Institute; serves on the Boards of Magnet Theatre, the Sustainability Institute and the Cape Town Partnership; and is a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Gauteng City-region Observatory, the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, LSE Cities, and the Low Carbon Mobility Stakeholder Board of the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at the University of Oxford. He is the author of City Futures: Confronting the Crisis of Urban Development (Zed Books, 2008).

1. Introduction; Susan Parnell and Edgar Pieterse
PART I: DRIVERS OF AFRICAN URBANIZATION
2. Urbanization as a Global Historical Process: Theory and Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa; Sean Fox
3. Sub-Saharan African Urbanization and Global Environmental Change; Susan Parnell and Ruwani Walawege
4. Conflict and Post-War Transition in African Cities; Jo Beall and Tom Goodfellow
5. Dimensions of Religion in African Cities: Personal, Political And Social; Carole Rakodi
6. Linking Urbanization and Development in Africa's Economic Revival; Ivan Turok
PART II: POLICY IMPERATIVES
7. Feeding African Cities: The Growing Challenge of Urban Food Insecurity; Jonathan Crush and Bruce Frayne
8. Transport Pressures in Urban Africa: Practices, Policies, Perspectives; Gordon Pirie
9. Decentralization Imperatives in Africa; Warren Smit and Edgar Pieterse
10. The Challenge of Urban Planning Law Reform in African Cities; Stephen Berrisford
11. The Education and Research Imperatives of Urban Planning Professionals in Africa; James Duminy, Nancy Odendaal and Vanessa Watson
PART III: NAVIGATING URBAN TRANSITIONS
12. National Urbanization and Urban Strategies: Necessary But Absent Policy Instruments in Africa; Susan Parnell and David Simon
13. Infrastructure, Real Economies, and Social Transformation: Assembling the Components for Regional Urban Development in Africa; AbdouMaliq Simone
14. Filling the Void: An Agenda for Tackling African Urbanization; Edgar Pieterse
Postscript: Building New Knowledge and Networks to Foster Sustainable Urban Development; Thomas Melin