Building Smart, Sustainable African Cities

Welcome to your course on Building Smart, Sustainable African Cities!

By 2030, more than half of Africa's population will live in cities, and urbanisation is heading toward 60 percent by 2050. African cities are growing faster than their infrastructure can absorb, and the choices made now about housing, mobility, energy, water and governance will define the continent for a generation. This course is the policymaker's playbook for shaping that urban future on African terms.

The curriculum sets the urban agenda for Africa and the pressures driving it, then defines what a smart, sustainable city actually is beyond the marketing. You will examine the policy levers that make smart-city ambitions real, and finish with the practical work of building and implementing a smart-city initiative that is inclusive, resilient and locally grounded.

By mastering these concepts, you will be equipped to design and champion a smart, sustainable city strategy tailored to your own urban context.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Analyse the urbanisation pressures shaping African cities and the agenda for responding to them.
• Explain what makes a city genuinely smart and sustainable, beyond technology for its own sake.
• Apply the policy levers required to turn smart-city ambitions into deliverable plans.
• Propose and justify a smart, sustainable city initiative grounded in the realities of your own context.

Who is this course for?

This course is designed for policymakers, urban planners, and municipal officials across Africa. It is highly beneficial for individuals who are:

• Responsible for urban, housing, mobility, energy, or municipal digital policy.
• Involved in planning or delivering smart-city or sustainable-infrastructure initiatives.
• Seeking to align city development with continental urban and sustainability agendas.