Challenging the Myths of Urban Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Evidence from Nigeria

The evidence from censuses and satellite imagery is increasing that the rate at which many countries are becoming more urban in sub-Saharan Africa has slowed or is even stagnating. This has major policy implications. Many standard reviews of the region still, however, tend to maintain that urbanizat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:World development 2012-07, Vol.40 (7), p.1382-1393
Main Author: Potts, Deborah
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
Economic development
Economic growth
Economic models
Errors
Estimation
Evidence
Knowledge
Migration
Myth
Myths
Nigeria
Satellites
Studies
Sub Saharan Africa
Towns
Urban Areas
urban economies
Urban growth
urban livelihoods
Urban studies
Urbanization
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Summary:The evidence from censuses and satellite imagery is increasing that the rate at which many countries are becoming more urban in sub-Saharan Africa has slowed or is even stagnating. This has major policy implications. Many standard reviews of the region still, however, tend to maintain that urbanization is occurring rapidly but, as this paper demonstrates, the data used are frequently erroneous. Such errors are exacerbated by a lack of reasonable estimates of the size and growth of towns in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa’s most populous country with the region’s most complex urban system. This paper also attempts to address this knowledge gap and shows how Nigeria’s level of urbanization has also been significantly over-estimated.
ISSN:0305-750X
1873-5991
DOI:10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.12.004