Reinventing Urban Forms for Contextualized African Cities

Despite their low impact on the planet and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, African countries find themselves threatened by "climate destruction", as UN Secretary-General António Guterres called it. The repercussions, both environmental and socio-economic, are far-reaching. Africa's booming cities are at the heart of the problem. With rampant urbanisation and an exponentially growing urban population, Africa is now the fastest-urbanizing continent in the world1. Polluting, energy-intensive megacities are expanding horizontally, consuming agricultural and natural land and intensifying ecological degradation.

What's more, these cities are incapable of absorbing all the influx of new residents, leading to anarchic and unhealthy housing. As a result, African cities find themselves vulnerable to the growing challenges of global warming.

African Cities Face Climate Peril

The 2022 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was not very reassuring. It confirms that Africa is the continent most vulnerable to the effects of global warming. This vulnerability is exacerbated  by the region's socio-economic and political instability.

These climate changes are manifested primarily in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events that Africa has been experiencing since the beginning of the century. North Africa and the Sahel were experiencing the longest drought in the region for over four decades2. In the Horn of Africa, consecutive failed rainy seasons have pushed Kenya and Ethiopia to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe3 following five consecutive failed rainy seasons. The crisis has left millions facing acute food insecurity, devastated livestock herds, and pushed entire communities to the edge of collapse.

Meanwhile, West and Central Africa, have seen devastating floods caused by unprecedented rainy seasons. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), torrential rains combined with rising sea levels have caused rivers to swell, affecting more than five million people in 19 countries, particularly in Central Africa and Côte d'Ivoire4. These scourges are having repercussions on the already fragile socio-economic situation, as confirmed by UNEP's Africa's Adaptation Gap report.

The need to adopt sustainable initiatives and the urgency of climate change are driving us today to rethink the process of making African cities more resilient.

Africa is risking a great deal: loss of human life, agricultural damage and insecurity are making the food system even more fragile, with social and economic consequences for the population, including forced migration. However, the stakes are even higher in urban areas.

African cities are particularly exposed to the urban heat island (UHI) effect, where built-up areas experience significantly higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas. Inadequate urban morphology and poorly adapted building systems intensify heat stress, and the discomfort sometimes becomes unbearable for the population.  This was the case in Ouargla in Algeria, where temperatures soared to 51.3°C in the shade in July 2018, and Kairouan in central Tunisia, which recorded 50.3°C in the shade on 11 August 20215.

The fragility of urban infrastructure also reduces the capacity of African cities to cope with flooding, especially in regions with a strong water network or located in catchment areas. The capital of the Central African Republic, Bangui, lives under the wrath of the Oubangui River, whose restless waters swallow parts of the city year after year. Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire and Dakar in Senegal share the same fate6.

However, rich in natural and human resources, Africa is not ready to give up the fight! Paradoxically, the solution lies largely in the cities. African cities are important centres for decision-making and the application of mitigation and adaptation measures. The need to adopt sustainable initiatives and the urgency of climate change are driving us today to rethink the process of making African cities more resilient.

Changing Practices Towards a New Urban Development Paradigm in Africa

Faced with the current climate challenges and the need to propose sustainable urban policies, urban planning needs to be rethought from the territorial to the neighbourhood level. The way infrastructure is produced, including buildings, requires comprehensive reform. This will not only involve several essential advances in terms of mobility, limiting urban sprawl and optimising urban morphology, but also the preservation of ecosystems and the management of energy, water and waste flows.

Strengthening local urban planning is essential and inclusive local urban planning ensures access to services and employment while promoting social and economic diversity.

Without such planning, the poorest populations are pushed to the margins, unable to find decent housing and forced to take refuge in anarchic and precarious neighbourhoods as observed in districts such as Koumassi - Grand Campement in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Combating the spread of informal settlements requires proactive measures, including the development of satellite urban centres and a coherent decentralisation strategy, while ensuring social cohesion and avoiding the fragmentation of communities.

In addition to environmental recommendations, urban planning reform must take into account the socio-economic needs and operating methods of today's cities.

In another hand, a strategic, well-thought-out urban layout would make it possible not only to reduce sprawl but also to optimise thermal comfort for dwellers. Several studies have shown that urban forms can have a considerable impact on solar gain from streets and building envelopes. The choice of urban form also has a major impact on natural ventilation and the circulation of air masses, which can alter or improve the microclimate and, consequently, indoor and outdoor thermal comfort.

The landscape is also an integral part of the design of tomorrow's cities. As well as being aesthetically pleasing, the greening of towns and cities can improve air quality, regulate ambient temperature and relative humidity, and change wind speed and direction. Existing plant cover should be preserved. Bodies of water such as rivers and lakes also need to be considered, preserved and enhanced. This means identifying flood-prone areas, but also ensuring that rainwater is properly managed and that the soil is permeable.7Finally, good urban management of resources and energy flows, as well as waste, remains essential.

In addition to environmental recommendations, urban planning reform must take into account the socio-economic needs and operating methods of today's cities. Urban life today is the condition of humanity. Yet a city and its spaces are only truly perceived through the eyes of of those who inhabit them. African city dwellers need to see a city with which they identify so that they can finally reshape it in their own image, based on their social practices and experiences.

To achieve these objectives and propose 'authentic' ecological urban planning, we need to change our perspective and rediscover the hidden potential of traditional architecture, which we have often tended to forget.

Using Traditional African Architecture as a Source of Inspiration

Humans have learned to cope with cold, heat, drought and lack of resources over a long time. In the absence of artificial means and technologies, we found local solutions to climate change and adapted our architecture accordingly. Traditional architecture globally undeniably drew its resources from the immediate environment and was perfectly integrated into the site. There was total harmony and respect between humans and their environment. However, with the rise of industrialisation and rapid technological advancement, the balance of the system was upset and humans, in a derisory act, wanted to detach themselves from their roots.

Such was the case in Africa. For a long time, we believed that building motorways, car parks, glassed-in skyscrapers and gigantic hypermarkets was synonymous with modernity. For a long time, we wanted to copy New York or Paris. So, we traded all the ingenuity of our ancestors embodied in vernacular architecture for a desert of concrete and steel. It's time for us to understand that purely Western images and perspectives are ill-suited to the African context. Climate, environment, culture and traditions make us who we are. It's time for us to understand that to be able to move forward, advance and develop, it would be enough to have our feet firmly planted in the ground and aim for the sky. The transition in Africa requires solutions that are certainly contemporary but also viable in terms of the local natural and climatic and human context.  Africa abounds in diversity, and it is from diversity that wealth is born.

Thanks to its strong bioclimatic and cultural potential, urban forms, settlement patterns and traditional architecture can be a source of inspiration for the cities of tomorrow. It is not about freezing the past in time! It’s important to acknowledge that yesterday’s forms cannot entirely serve today’s world and the 21^st century requirements. Rather than a question of banishing all forms of progress or modernity, the solution lies in respecting the immediate environment and enhancing local identity. So how do we balance the scales?

For a long time, we wanted to copy New York or Paris. So, we traded all the ingenuity of our ancestors embodied in vernacular architecture for a desert of concrete and steel.

Any keen observer can appreciate the comfort and harmony with the landscape of traditional villages where passive heating and cooling strategies are put in place. A stroll through the heart of a medina, with its narrow streets, introverted houses with patios and buildings that back onto one another, reveals these strategies. Adjoining walls reduce heat loss; the patio, with its vat-like shape, provides ventilation; and the narrow streets provide perfect protection from the sun. However, between the medina of Tunis, the Mediterranean pearl, and Marrakech, the ochre city of the Moroccan High Atlas, the answers differ according to topography, available materials, sunshine and winds.

The Amazigh villages8of Chenini and Douiret in southern Tunisia are majestically perched in the hills and blend in perfectly. With their troglodytic architecture,9the buildings are nothing more than openings between the strata of clay and limestone. Miraculously, thanks to the inertia of the earth, these areas remain cool throughout the year in an extremely arid desert climate with wide temperature variations. Another example is the Malian villages of Timbuktu and Djenné, where the genius of earth construction can be appreciated in all its splendour.

Another illustration can be found across West Africa where homes and shared family spaces are carefully positioned in harmony with the sea breeze and the shelter of existing trees. he palaver tree becomes the beating heart of the village, around which dwellings naturally gather. Architecture itself becomes a breathing structure with numerous natural ventilation systems: roofs are designed to channel air, and release accumulated heat, their forms varying from one community to another, shaped by climate, materials, and tradition.

And these are but a few among many!

Apart from its environmental intelligence, African vernacular architecture carries profound cultural significance. It tells the story of a people and reflects the soul of a community. Far from being mere construction, this built environment is layered with meaning : Beyond a patio or courtyard, it's a place for gathering and living; beyond a baobab, a landmark; beyond a geometric design painted on a wall, a symbol.

African vernacular architecture is indeed the perfect example of a holistic architecture that values and aligns itself with its climatic, natural and human contexts. Enhancing the value of traditional architecture would enable us to reinvent our African cities and propose contextualised, sustainable and resilient solutions.

The Future of African Cities Is in Our Hands!

Faced with mounting climate pressures and social inequalities, change is no longer optional. It begins with daring to reinvent how our cities are built. This reform requires action and awareness-raising on the part of all stakeholders. It is only through combined efforts that we will be able to adapt the built environment and offer more resilient urban planning.

Reinventing urban planning in Africa ultimately is envisioning urban forms that are creative and innovative, but also contextualised. By highlighting local African identity, we will propose cities that are grounded in their territories—cities that respond to the climatic, environmental, social, and cultural realities of this diverse continent.

The decisions we make today will shape Africa’s urban tomorrow. We must ensure they are the right ones.