Housing and Human Settlements
Housing and neighbourhood dynamics, urban land markets, and the supply of well-located social and affordable housing.
Housing is an important part of the real economy for multiple reasons, despite usually being treated as welfare because of the sizeable deficit in most African cities. Housing is the largest user of land in cities, hence the operation of the urban land market and the efficient use of this scarce resource is vital for cities to function well, including restrictions on low density urban sprawl and spatial fragmentation. Housing is also a basic human right and an important social, economic and financial asset, shaping access to economic opportunities and the accumulation of wealth across generations.
This theme is concerned with housing and neighbourhood dynamics, including methods of inhibiting the proliferation of informal settlements on the urban periphery and encouraging the production of well-located social and affordable housing. The CCRE has a particular interest in the supply of small-scale rental housing by emerging developers and entrepreneurs, which is growing strongly in many African cities, despite little or no government support. A better understanding of the regulatory and financial obstacles to building more, better and more compliant rental housing will help to reform policy frameworks and strengthen the sector.
Selected references
- Mokoena, M., Marais, L., Masithela, N., Venter, A. (2025) 'Governing housing megaprojects in a South African metropolitan area: The case of Mangaung', Area Development and Policy, 10(1), pp.126-147. https://doi.org/10.1080/23792949.2024.2448422