Search

The rapid urbanization of cities in the Global South, and indeed Ghanaian cities has left many Municipalities grappling with a widening gap in infrastructure need. This is largely due to limited financial resources to expand infrastructure to keep pace with urban expansion. In this context, land-based financing has become topical among city managers in generating resources to provide the much-needed urban infrastructure. The paper examines how non-state actors such as parastatal land operators collaborate with state actors—local authorities to provide urban infrastructure using land-based financing mechanisms. The case study approach was used to study two parastatal land development companies—Tema Development Company and Ghana Airport Company. The paper finds that leasehold premium and infrastructure levy are instruments used for providing urban infrastructure. It further finds that the application of these instruments requires the management of complex factors and stakeholders; proper understanding of land market conditions; comprehensive property-monitoring systems; effective communication among fiscal and planning entities; and political resolve to realize the full potential of land-based financing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this systematic literature review is to contribute to the knowledge about barriers to change in urban freight systems and to support managed changes toward more sustainable urban freight systems. Method: This paper is based on a systematic review covering 93 peer-reviewed journal articles. The study was designed to advance earlier research in this area by providing a system perspective on barriers to development in urban freight systems. The theoretical knowledge about these barriers was analyzed and synthesized, the relationships between barriers explored, and the insights developed into a model of understanding of managed change processes in urban freight systems. Findings: From a system perspective 11 categories of barriers to change in urban freight systems were identified and characterized. The barriers are, in different ways, related both to each other and to a managed change process for sustainable development of urban freight systems. A model for understanding categories of barriers and their connection to managed change processes in urban freight systems is proposed in this paper. The model consists of three groups of barriers within the process, and two groups in the system context, which should be addressed with different priorities in a managed change process. The study identifies several future research options. Future research could support the development of sustainable urban freight systems by providing insights into change process governance, potentially by combining theory from areas like organization, systems, and networks with the system perspective on urban freight systems. Research on non-European urban freight systems could increase the scholarly insights about contextual impact on barriers and change processes. Future studies could also explore methods to mitigate identified barriers, especially in the areas of cooperation, organization, politics, knowledge, and the first mover disadvantage. Finally, future research should continue to develop the model of the managed change process for urban freight systems and its use in supporting sustainable development of these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper raises a fundamental question about Sub-Saharan Africa: has urbanization there been accompanied by improvements in personal wellbeing? It then proceeds to open an investigation focused on child health—in the form of child growth failure, including (i) stunting; (ii) wasting; and (iii) underweight—that addresses the question. The main contribution of the work is to reconcile an array of data, collected across different spatial scales and over different timeframes, in a manner that enables some preliminary insight into the relationships explored. Evidence derived from the analysis suggests that the wave of urbanization breaking across Sub-Saharan Africa is associated with improvements in wellbeing, a finding that is qualified by need for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global development agenda such as the Sustainable Development Goals call for natural-based strategies to make urban areas sustainable. One approach is urban greenspace planning. In Ghana, however, planning response to urban problems has often been inadequate and/or unresponsive. As such, the effective role of planning authorities in urban greenspace planning becomes a critical issue. This paper asks three questions: (i) What attention has been given to urban greenspaces in urban development plans for the Kumasi Metropolis? (ii) What challenges do urban planners encounter in urban greenspace planning in the Kumasi Metropolis? (iii) What factors should urban authorities consider in urban greenspace planning in the Kumasi Metropolis? This paper used content analysis on five urban development plans and interviews with urban development professionals in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. The findings show that urban greenspaces receive low attention in urban development plans. Institutional barriers to urban greenspace planning included a lack of innovation in visions for urban greenspaces, political interference, inadequate funding, disharmony in land management, misconception about land use, and a low appreciation of urban greenspaces among residents and landowners. This study concludes that these factors undermine urban greenspace planning capacity of urban authorities in the Metropolis. Therefore, urban greenspace planning must take cognizance of these factors and act to mitigate their effects on urban greenspace planning in the Kumasi Metropolis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2 Andersson E, Barthel S, Borgström S, Colding J, Elmqvist T, Folke C, Gren Å. Reconnecting cities to the biosphere: Stewardship of green infrastructure and urban ecosystem services. Chronologically first of the anniversary collection papers, Folke et al. ([6]) took a regional-global approach to urbanization and demonstrated how cities are part of the global biosphere and dependent upon the life-supporting functions and services generated by ecosystems. Enlivening our cities: Towards urban sustainability and resilience: This article belongs to Ambio's 50th Anniversary Collection. [Extracted from the article]

In this perspective, we present how three initial landmark papers on urban sustainability research contributed to the larger sustainability science scholarship and paved the way for the continued development of urban sustainability research. Based on this, we propose three conceptual innovation pathways to trace the progression of urban sustainability science: First, urban sustainability from a system's perspective, meaning that urban sustainability requires integrative solutions to work in the tripled social-ecological-technological system setting. Second, urban sustainability from a (people and place) relational perspective, meaning urban sustainability is a contested and dynamic social-ecological contract of cities. As a governance mission, urban sustainability requires evidence from research that can inform coordinated action to bridge people, places, meanings, visions and ecosystems. Third, urban sustainability from a transformative science perspective, meaning that for urban sustainability to be achieved and progressed, deep transformations are required in systems, relations, policies and governance approaches. Our proposal for the future of urban sustainability science centres on emphasizing the relevance and policy applicability of systems' thinking, value and place thinking and transitions/transformations thinking as fundamental to how knowledge is co-produced by research science, policy and society and becomes actionable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adjustment of administrative divisions is one of the important factors guiding China’s urbanization, which has profound economic and social effects for regional development. In this paper, we comprehensively describe the process of the adjustment of administrative divisions at provincial and municipal levels in China and summarize the effects on the basic structure and patterns of the spatial development. We quantitatively assess the effects on fields such as urbanization and social economy through the use of multidimensional scaling. The results show that: 1) Upgrading county to municipality (or city-governed district) is the main way of adjusting the administrative divisions. It is also an important factor in the spatial differentiation of interprovincial urbanization. China’s population urbanization can be divided into four patterns including interprovincial migration, provincial migration, natural growth, and growth caused by the adjustment of administrative divisions, which is also the main reason for the increased Chinese urbanization rate at the provincial level. 2) Taking the city of Beijing as an example, we generalize five adjustment patterns made to administrative divisions: the set-up of sub-districts, the set-up of regional offices, the upgrading of townships to sub-districts, the upgrading of townships to towns, and the set-up of towns and the addition of new regional offices. We summarize the municipal urban spatial structure, including the sub-district office area in the central urban area, the regional office area in the new urban area, the mixed area of villages, towns, and sub-district offices in the suburb area, and the township area in the outer suburb area. 3) The adjustment of administrative divisions triggers a significant circulative accumulation effect, resulting in the spatial locking of population and industrial agglomeration. It affects the evolution of the urban spatial form and plays an important role in shaping the urban spatial structure to move to the characteristic of multicenter. In general, the adjustment of administrative divisions was an important factor affecting the inflated statistical level of urbanization and also an important driving force for the evolution of Chinese urban spatial organization structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid urban development in China in the last two decades, the three-dimensional (3D) characteristic has been the main feature of urban morphology. However, the vast majority of researches of urban growth have focused on the planar area (two-dimensional (2D)) expansion. Few studies have been conducted from a 3D perspective. In this paper, the 3D urban expansion of the Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China from 2003 to 2012 was evaluated based on Geographical Information System (GIS) tools and high-resolution remote sensing images. Four indices, namely weighted average height of buildings, volume of buildings, 3D expansion intensity and 3D fractal dimension are used to quantify the 3D urban expansion. The weighted average height of buildings and the volume of buildings are used to illustrate the temporal change of the 3D urban morphology, while the other two indices are used to calculate the expansion intensity and the fractal dimension of the 3D urban morphology. The results show that the spatial distribution of the high-rise buildings in Yangzhou has significantly spread and the utilization of the 3D space of Yangzhou has become more efficient and intensive. The methods proposed in this paper laid a foundation for a wide range of study of 3D urban morphology changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization is a complex process that covers a wide range of topics, of which population, industry and land urbanization are three important aspects. Jilin Province is an important agricultural province in China. The contradiction between population, industry and land urbanization is especially prominent here, and its coupling development is of great practical significance. In this paper, the coupling degree of population-industry-land urbanization in Jilin Province in 1990, 2000 and 2010 is measured by coupling mode. The spatial pattern of the coupling degree is analyzed by trend surface analysis and global and local spatial autocorrelation. The influence factors and their spatial differentiation are discussed using multiple linear regression (MLR) model and geographic weighted regression (GWR) model. The results show that: 1) the coupling degree of population-industry-land urbanization in Jilin Province is at a low level. Judging from the change of time scale, the urbanization of most research units is becoming more and more coordinated. From the comparison of spatial scales, there is significant spatial difference in the research units of different administrative levels. 2) Judging from the global change trend, the coupling degree of population-industry-land urbanization in the central region is higher than that in western and eastern regions. The coordination of urbanization in the central region is relatively good, and the distribution of the cold and hot spots is basically the same as that overall. 3) The spatial pattern of the coupling degree is related to the cold and hot spot distribution of the influence coefficient of urban population density and per capita urban construction land. The variation of the coupling degree spatial pattern is synchronous with the spatial change of the urban population density influence coefficient. 4) The degree of agglomeration of the urban population is the main factor promoting the coupling pattern of population-industry-land urbanization in Jilin Province, and the extent of its influence is gradually increasing. In addition, the level of city administrative, the efficiency of urban expansion and the capacity of market consumption also have an important influence on the coupling pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sri Lanka is experiencing speedy urbanization by converting the agriculture land and other natural land cover into built-up land. The urban population of Sri Lanka is expected to reach to 60% by 2030 from 14% in 2010. The rapid growth in urban population and urban areas in Sri Lanka may cause serious socioeconomic disparities, if they are not handled properly. Thus, planners in Sri Lanka are in need of information about past and future urban growth patterns to plan a better and sustainable urban future for Sri Lanka. In this paper, we analyzed the characteristics of past land use and land cover trends in Matara City of Sri Lanka from 1980 to 2010 to assess the historic urban dynamics. The land use change detection analysis based on remote sensing datasets reveal that the conversion of homestead/garden and paddy into urban land is evident in Matara City. The historic urban trends are projected into the near future by using SLEUTH urban growth model to identify the hot spots of future urbanization and as well as the urban growth patterns in Matara City up to the basic administrative level, i.e., Grama Niladari Divisions (GND). The urban growth simulations for the year 2030 reveal that 29 GNDs out of 66 GNDs in Matara City will be totally converted into urban land. Whereas, 28 GNDs will have urban land cover from 75% to 99% by 2030. The urban growth simulations are further analyzed with respect to the proposed Matara city development plan by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) of Sri Lanka. The results show that the UDA's city development plan of Matara will soon be outpaced by rapid urbanization. Based on the calibration and validation results, the SLEUTH model proved to be a useful planning tool to understand the near future urbanization of Sri Lankan cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the interactive relationship between the agglomeration of urban elements and the evolution of eco-environmental pressure. We build an index system for evaluating the agglomeration of urban elements and eco-environmental pressure. Using the entropy method and response intensity model, we analyze how urban elements agglomeration influenced eco-environmental pressure in Changchun from 1990 to 2012, eliciting the changing features and influential factors. Ultimately, we conclude there is a significant interactive relationship between the agglomeration of urban elements and the evolution of eco-environmental pressure in Changchun. This is inferred from the degree of this agglomeration in Changchun having increased since 1990, with the degree of eco-environmental pressure first decreasing and then increasing. Alongside this, the impact of urban elements agglomeration on eco-environmental pressure has changed from negative to positive. The main reasons behind this shift are arguably the rapid growth of urban investment and ongoing urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores one possible argument for how to respond to the epistemic troubles in the production of knowledge about urban Africa. The problem I have in mind is the preponderance of policy-oriented research on the development challenges and absences of African cities, as opposed to a more rounded theorisation of urban life (urbanism) or cityness. The paper starts by recounting the challenge thrown out by Jennifer Robinson and Achille Mbembe and Sarah Nuttall to take African ‘cityness’ or ‘worldliness’ seriously in our engagement with the African city. This starting point leads on to an exploration of what cityness can mean, given the overdetermining effect of violence in African social life, in no small measure a consequence of the colonial era of terror and exploitation, but also now remade and re-embedded in enduring inequalities that mark everyday life. In my reading, this issue looms so large in the contemporary city that I found it impossible, within the constraints of this essay, to explore in detail other dimensions of urban sociality. As a result, I simply assert that, in the absence of a deep philosophical understanding of the social, it is almost impossible to hold on to a liberal humanist moral project of the kind which frequently underpins policy prescriptions to improve the quality of life, livelihoods, governance and social fabric in African cities. Put differently, here, I am interested to define what it could mean to explore the African urban without a humanist (philosophical) safety net, yet committed to an ethical project of ‘becoming’ and human flourishing. Thus, in the final instance I turn to some speculative reflections on what promise this line of argument may hold for a more policy-focused research agenda in a move to bring policy and philosophical debates into closer articulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the impact of infrastructural development on poverty reduction in Nigeria. Specifically, the relative effects of physical and social infrastructure on living standards or poverty indicators are examined, with a view to providing empirical evidence on the implications of increased urban infrastructure for the urban poor. The paper employs secondary data for the period 1970:1 to 2005:4 and the Structural Vector Autoregressive technique is adopted in the analysis. The study unequivocally finds that infrastructural development leads to poverty reduction. Results also show that though infrastructure in general reduces poverty, social infrastructure explains a higher proportion of the forecast error in poverty indicators relative to physical infrastructure. This suggests that massive investment in social infrastructure in cities would drastically reduce poverty in the urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accepting that successful “development” is premised on a population's participation in a collective undertaking, we must understand urban residents' interactions and ambitions. In African cities being transformed by geographic and social mobility, it is unclear what forms of inclusion, solidarity, or mutual recognition are desired or possible among those who live there. This paper argues that the pursuit of three objectives—profit, protection, and passage—is shaping these cities' social formations in ways that limit the ability of official and non-official institutions to interweave popular aspirations—however temporarily—to promote a common and mutually beneficial future. The paper starts from the premise that the novelty of the emerging social forms within Africa's cities requires a willingness to induce: to build a conceptual vocabulary of belonging reflecting practices of those living in and moving through Africa's cities. Only after doing this will we have the building blocks for further debate. With this in mind, the paper works towards a pair of interrelated tasks. The first is to challenge three premises often informing discussions of mobility and urban politics: (1) the presence of a dominant host community or political order; (2) that cities are destinations and not points of transit; and (3) that state institutions are the primary source of exclusion and the most potent tool for fostering inclusion in a collective endeavor. Second, it considers one form of membership and inclusion that can emerge where the presumptions outlined above do not hold. In doing so, it points to a kind of “tactical cosmopolitanism”, a set of discourses and practices that can subvert ethnic or national chauvinism and restrictive migration or anti-urbanization policies and practices. Drawing primarily on examples from Johannesburg, it shows how migrants negotiate partial inclusion in transforming societies without becoming bounded by them. The paper ends by reflecting briefly on the challenges such tactics pose for generating a collective urban project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an overview of urbanization patterns and trends in the current era in South Africa, focusing in particular on the key dynamics and driving forces underlying migration and urbanization. It considers overall demographic trends with regard to migration and urbanization, and points to some of the difficulties with data, and with the analysis of trends and patterns. The paper explores the changing rural context and dynamics, and some of the significant processes in this context: large-scale displacement of black people off farms, the impact of land reform, and conditions in the former homeland areas. Circular migration continues to be an important way in which households in rural areas survive, but some are unable to move, and are falling out of these networks. International migration—the consequence of both conditions in the home country and the draw of the South African economy—is another significant process fuelling mainly urban growth. The paper demonstrates the importance of cities in terms of economic growth and employment, and thus their attractiveness to migrants. Continuing migration to cities is of course a challenge for city management, but important trends towards declining household size and the splitting up of households are also driving the physical growth of cities and demands for housing, services, and infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mystery of the lack of a positive relationship between growth and urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa has been raised in a number of studies. A recent paper by Barrios et al. ( Journal of Urban Economics 60:357–371, ) provides a compelling explanation for why this occurs. Exploiting a new data source, they show how climate change, specifically the reduction in rainfall, has driven people from the increasingly impoverished countryside to the city. They also show that while this is an important factor explaining urbanization in sub-Saharan African countries it does not affect urbanization elsewhere. Their explanation for this important difference is differences in the patterns of rainfall, as well as the composition of soil in most sub-Saharan countries. In a word, geographical factors have dominated the unusual pattern observed in the world’s most rapidly urbanizing continent. In this paper, we extend the work done by Barrios et al. to include more observations and more detailed geographic variables. We first replicate their results and extend the number of observations to more recent periods. Then we consider the effects of a range of specific country geographical characteristics, relying on data developed by other researchers. After discussing our results, we focus on the implications of our findings for policy formulation, particularly for sub-Saharan African countries. The results indicate that geographical circumstances place significantly more important constraints on maximization processes. In other words, urbanization in these countries takes place in a profoundly “second-best” world. We consider what this kind of context implies for the sequencing and implementation of economic reforms which would allow for an urbanization process that would be more conducive to economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores and explains the phenomena of city growth and city regions in the South African context. It reflects on the process of urbanisation and city region growth in South Africa in an attempt at contributing towards the development of a discourse and analysis that better appreciates city region areas as crucial components of the growth, development and well-being of the nation as a whole, including communities living in rural areas of the country. The paper also raises questions around the increasing challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, as well as the growing ecological dilemmas that city regions in South Africa are faced by. The paper is based on a study and analysis of quantitative data on urban areas and more specifically ‘city regions’, aptly called the ‘National Spatial Trends Overview (2008)’, for the South African Cities Network, the national Department of Provincial and Local Government and The Presidency. The innovative spatial analysis and data platform used enabled the identification and comparative analyses of a wide range of settlements based on their functional urban areas. It is argued that regardless of where on the contentious scale city regions are viewed as positive or negative, they are important for the country as a whole. Taking cognisance of benefits as well as costs of city region areas, the paper concludes that an appreciation for city region planning dynamics will be crucial for the achievement of the South African Government’s national developmental goals and objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper outline three basic categories of urban phenomenology based upon the simple notion of a trajectory thorough a network of streets. This formal notion gives rise to three different phases of such a trajectory—where the movement stops, when it proceeds unproblematically, and when several possibilities for choosing the further trajectory present themselves; thus, the locale, the street, and the square, as indicated in the title. Based on the Peircean notions of First-, Second-, and Thirdness, the paper makes a first investigation as to which aspects of urban experience are connected to these three categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines city growth patterns and the corresponding city size distribution evolution over long periods of time using a simple New Economic Geography (NEG) model and urban population data from Canada. The main findings are twofold. First, there is a transition from sequential to parallel growth of cities over long periods of time: city growth shows a sequential mode in the stage of rapid urbanization, i.e., the cities with the best development conditions will take the lead in growth, after which the cities with higher ranks will become the fastest-growing cities; in the late stage of urbanization, city growth converges according to Gibrat′s law, and exhibits a parallel growth pattern. Second, city size distribution is found to have persistent structural characteristics: the city system is self-organized into multiple discrete size groups; city growth shows club convergence characteristics, and the cities with similar development conditions eventually converge to a similar size. The results will not only enhance our understanding of urbanization process, but will also provide a timely and clear policy reference for promoting the healthy urbanization of developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has high biodiversity and is rapidly urbanizing. However, there is limited understanding of how urban expansion in the country is likely to affect its habitats and biodiversity. In this study, we examine urban expansion patterns and their likely impacts on biodiversity in China by 2030. Our analysis shows that most provinces are expected to experience urban expansion either near their protected areas or in biodiversity hotspots. In a few provinces such as Guangdong in the south, urban expansion is likely to impinge on both protected areas and biodiversity hotspots. We show that policies that could facilitate the integration of natural resource protection into urban planning exist on paper, but the prevailing incentives and institutional arrangements between the central and local governments prevent this kind of integration. Removing these obstacles will be necessary in order to safeguard the country's rich biodiversity in light of the scale of urbanization underway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in population as well as migration from rural areas has resulted in drastic land use/land cover changes in the city of Tiruchirappalli. Unfortunately, these changes have not been quantified appropriately. This paper gives an overview of the study done to quantify the spread of urban activity from years 1998 to 2009 along the city using remote sensing/GIS technology. The results showed an unruly 41 % increase in urban activity, with a proportionate decrease in agricultural land during the period of study. An attempt was also made to project the built-up land for the next 20 years based on the available trend of urban changes and rate of population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like most developing countries, Botswana-a middle-income country-has experienced rapid urban growth, which has brought in its wake many social and economic problems. One of the key challenges has been the lack of access to land and housing for the poor who have moved into the urban centres in large numbers in search of employment and economic survival. Many programmes and strategies have been introduced by both central and local governments to address this problem. These include: squatter settlement upgrading; public housing through site, service and self-help housing; subsidised plot allocation; financial incentives for housing construction, etc. Many challenges have hampered the implementation of these strategies and programmes including fast urbanisation, which outstrips supply of land and housing for most urbanites; unaffordability of many of these schemes; poor targeting; high defaulting rates and poor management of these schemes. This paper calls upon the government, the private sector and local communities to devise holistic solutions to enable low-income households to procure decent accommodation in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a long history of recognising and interpreting discontinuous change-phase transitions-in urban systems. In this paper, we use the aggregate retail model as an archetype to explore some new ideas. For example, we argue that the dependence of paths of development on initial conditions has been understudied, and we offer a new graphical analysis that demonstrates explicitly their influence on discrete change. We introduce an order parameter, and we plot this on a 'results grid' to facilitate the discovery of possible phase transitions. We illustrate the use of these new developments with an application to London. We show how retail developers can change the 'initial conditions' at a point in time and possibly bring about phase transitions by their actions. This also shows that it should be possible to account for the history of urban development as a sequence of initial conditions, illustrating path dependence. Secondly, the model could be deployed in relation to a new shopping zone, and the tools developed here used to calculate the minimum size of a new development in order for it to compete. We explore the 'minimum size' idea in relation to a new shopping zone in London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

number of traits identify an urban society from a village. In the 1950s, V.G. Childe identified ten traits for an urban society, including permanent settlement in dense aggregations, centralization of surplus, monumental public buildings, social stratification, a ruling class, systems of recording and administration, exact and predictive sciences regulating the cycle of agriculture operation, conceptualized and sophisticated styles of art, long-distance trade and importing raw materials, and a social organization based upon residence rather than kinship. Although he identified these traits for ancient urban society, these also can be applied in modern times. The most important function of an urban society especially in southeast Iran is its intermediary function. This function can be seen both in ancient and modern times. The present paper aims to identify both urban societies in ancient and modern times, and to explain intermediary function of these societies, including Shahr-i-Sokhta during the third millennium BCE and Zahedan in modern time. In fact, this function may have caused the emergence and development of these urban societies during two different periods. It is also postulated that the decline of this function may have caused the collapse of both societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges of rapid urbanisation in large parts of Africa are beyond the capacity of local government to manage. The paper explores the arguments for a national urban policy to complement local strategies, reflecting the unique power of the central state and the special circumstances of cities. With appropriate support, urbanisation could become a more positive force for economic and human development. Recent experience in South Africa illustrates some of the difficulties and possibilities for agreeing a systematic approach to planning and managing urban growth and transformation. Key stakeholders in the policy process have focused on urban poverty as an immediate priority and broadened the traditional economic argument for nations targeting cities to spell out a long-term environmental and economic development agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agriculture in Africa has been identified as an important income generation and survival strategy among poor and not so poor households. However, official attitudes to urban agriculture vary considerably between and within different African countries. Recent field-based research undertaken in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, reveals that urban agriculture makes a significant contribution to the food basket of many urban households in the city. Despite this contribution, urban agriculture in Lusaka has remained a peripheral issue in urban development strategies and planning policy. Interviews with urban farmers and professionals from various government departments and non-governmental organisations indicate that urban agriculture suffers from a number of factors such as a shortage of land and unsupportive official policy. This paper attempts to illuminate the patterns, processes and decision-making strategies associated with the production of foodstuffs for sale and/or household consumption. The extent to which urban agriculture is being supported or marginalized in Lusaka is examined in the context of evolving strategies for achieving sustainable urban development, poverty alleviation and food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the various government policies that spawned the principles that favored urban integration in South Africa. Policies including White Paper on Housing (in 1994), the Development Facilitation Act (in 1995) and the Urban Development Strategy (1995) are discussed. Concerns for the implementation of urban development programmes flowing from these policies, which may have possibly worsened the apartheid geography of segregation, fragmentation and inequality are also mentioned.

Since current administrative unit-based urban land area statistical data in China lack enough spatial information, the urbanization process research at large scale cannot be effectively supported. Based on the current administrative unit-based urban land area statistical data in China, a new approach to quickly and cheaply derive urban land information from the non-radiance-calibrated Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/ Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) nighttime light imagery is presented in this paper. With the new approach, the urban pattern information in China in 1992, 1996 and 1998 was derived with the urbanization processes in China in the 1990s restored by using the non-radiance-calibrated DMSP/OLS nighttime imagery. The accuracy assessment based on the statistical data showed that the relative error between the derived total urban land area and the statistical data at national scale was less than 2% in 1992, and less than 1% in 1996 and 1998, and the maximum relative error at province scale do not exceed 10% with most of the provinces less than 3%. In addition, the urban patterns derived from the high-resolution Landsat TM imagery were compared with those from the DMSP/OLS data. The results showed that the urban pattern characteristics derived from DMSP/OLS were basically coincident with those from TM imagery with the total accuracy of about 80%. Thus it can be seen that our restored urbanization process in China in the 1990s by using the non-radiance DMSP/OLS night-time imagery can be accepted and can represent the actual urban development in China at that time on the whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]