Urban development trends in fast-growing developing countries are leading to socially and spatially fractured cities, according to our latest urban neighbourhood research.

As more and more people continue to migrate to cities in search of better jobs, better learning opportunities and better living standards, how cities change and adapt in response to this burgeoning urban growth is a crucial component of supporting sustainable development.

In a suite of new research summaries, the international research team at the GCRF Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods (SHLC), have explored urban expansion and patterns of neighbourhood distribution in 14 fast-growing cities across Africa and Asia.

Informal housing and urban expansion in Kigali, Rwanda. Credit: Ya Ping Wang, University of Glasgow
Informal housing and urban expansion in Kigali, Rwanda. Credit: Ya Ping Wang, University of Glasgow

Despite different growth patterns what is common across most of the case study cities is benefits of urban planning intended to support this urban growth are not enjoyed by all, says SHLC’s Principal Investigator Professor Ya Ping Wang.

“Our research in 14 cities in Africa and Asia shows that trends in urban development are leading to cities that are socially and spatially fractured. The call of UN Habitat’s 2016 Urban Agenda for planning as a basis for more equitable and sustainable cities appears to have gone largely unheeded. Although most cities boast they have a master plan, neighbourhood planning is rare and almost always benefits only the rich and the emerging middle class.”

Understanding how the city is expanding is just one part of the story. Delving deeper into official statistics, such as the population census and using analytical techniques like k-means clustering to examine secondary data, the new suite of research summaries also investigates the internal structure and dynamics of different neighbourhoods across the city.

Disarray of urban functions in Joydebpur. © 2020 SHLC Bangladesh
Disarray of urban functions in Joydebpur. © 2020 SHLC Bangladesh

Reflecting on research results, SHLC’s Deputy Director, Professor Keith Kintrea says that understanding and responding to neighbourhood differentiations, and divisions, is crucial to supporting sustainable urban development:

“Increasing inequality and division in cities will not lead to sustainability. The communities that UN-Habitat urges should be engaged in city-making have so far been pushed into crowded slums or out to the city margins far from jobs and services. As the experience of COVID-19 again shows, major shocks have disproportionate negative impacts on poor urban neighbourhoods. Cities need to address the causes and consequences of urban neighbourhood and spatial division; pro-poor urban planning should become the reality rather than just a slogan.”

Research summaries can be viewed and downloaded via the links listed below.

cities GCRF neighbourhoods SHLC and Urban October 2020 Urban October Urban October 2020 urban research