Contemporary Models for Pro-Poor Housing in Urban Sub-Saharan Africa

The proportion of the world’s urban population is expected to increase to about 57% by 2050, and the share of Africa's urban population is project to increase to 60% by the same year. As a result of this phenomenal growth in urban population, urbanization and urban poverty have begun to dominate the development discourse again after years of focusing on rural development. Housing is a crucial issue for the urban poor, who often lack land to build their own houses or access to financing that would allow them to purchase or build homes and are frequently concentrated in informal settlements with insufficient access to infrastructure, health, and education services. Furthermore, housing provision has largely fallen to central governments, and policy has largely overlooked the capacity of the urban poor—as individuals and communities—to provide housing for themselves.

This book engages these challenges and assumptions, offering insight into political, economic, environmental, and financial frameworks that can help facilitate adequate housing options. Drawing on examples from case studies across sub-Saharan Africa, these contributions center the urban poor in initiatives to develop housing infrastructure, offering lessons for researchers and governments looking to address an ever-escalating housing crisis.