Urbanisation has been a well-established trend and for some countries will continue to be. But some others experience the opposite, resulting in underused and abandoned infrastructure.
Thousands of co-housing projects in cities around the world have shown how people can get together to create diverse homes that suit them and their community – this one is in Portland, Oregon.
Kevin Turner/flickr
City residents all around the world are getting together to create housing tailored to their needs and budgets, instead of being developed for maximum profit.
Slum in Paris, by the Pont des Poissonniers.
André Feigeles/Wikimedia
Pushpa Arabindoo, Institut d'études avancées de Paris (IEA) – RFIEA
Slums are an increasing common phenomenon across the global North and global South. To what extent could they be seen as an inherent part of the urbanisation process?
South Africans eat too little fruit and vegetables. Food gardens in urban and rural communities could help.
Flickr/USAID | Southern Africa
South Africa has problems with hunger and obesity and both are linked to malnutrition. But solutions like taxes, education, regulating food advertising and labelling can help the problem.
New South African research supports evidence that urbanisation has a positive impact on people’s lives and must be managed appropriately for development.
Johannesburg has become a regional retail hub with cross border shopping activity running into billions.
Mark Lewis
Johannesburg’s central business district is developing into a major cross border shopping hub, servicing the broader sub-Saharan region and has a potential to grow even further.
Most African cities are expensive, informal and non-industrial. This has produced unique socioeconomic and environmental risks that must be carefully considered in policy development.
Scientists estimate that by 2020, non-communicable disease will account for almost 70% of the total disease burden.
Shutterstock
Although hypertension can easily be detected in Africa, up to half of the population are unaware of their condition.
Phoenix Lake, Dortmund’s coolest new quarter, was once an abanonded steel mill surrounded by polluted waterways and brownfields.
Frank Vincentz/Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
A former industrial region in the heart of Germany is slowly reinventing itself for the 21st century, offering urban planning lessons for Detroit and beyond.
The southern African region can benefit from beneficiating produce like sugar.
REUTERS/Mujahid Safodien
How can African research universities be more responsive to African countries’ needs? And how can these universities work together to leverage funding for research informed by African realities?
Both Donald Trump and his political opponents are on board the global infrastructure bandwagon.
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
The trillions of dollars spent on infrastructure demands democratic transparency and accountability. This applies to both the investment and to the effects on cities, societies and the environment.