To celebrate World Cities Day SHLC launch new research reports exploring national urban policies and profiles for fast-growing cities across Africa and Asia.

Over the past year, SHLC international teams have been examining the relationship between urbanisation, migration, economic development, education, health and social sustainability in rapidly urbanising cities.

The research reports, which can be downloaded below, present a review of national urban policies paying particular attention to health and education, before going on to present a city profile for each of the SHLC case study cities.

This preliminary research will help to establish how the development and urban planning process in these cities has operated and how it has influenced the spatial structure of the city and the emergence of particular types of neighbourhood.

Professor Ya Ping Wang, Director of SHLC, University of Glasgow said:

“Urbanisation is a driving force for economic growth and social change in Africa and Asia. However the speed of urbanisation varies from country to country. After several decades of rapid expansion, urbanisation in India, China and South Africa is beginning to slow down, while larger capital cities in smaller developing countries continue to grow very fast. For example Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania will be a megacity of 10 million people by 2030.”

“Our preliminary research shows that while urbanisation and migration in our case study cities has brought growth, it has also led to a great deal of inequality between different social and economic groups, communities and neighbourhoods. It has also put pressure on education and health systems. The next stage of our project will focus on the internal social and spatial structures of neighbourhoods within these cities to help find practical solutions.”

Sustainable Cities