Today my friend and colleague Hokan Pettersson sent me a link to an article in The Atlantic, an American literary and cultural commentary magazine, about how sub-Saharan Africa´s growth is creating vast urbanized areas across the continent.
The Atlantic is an interesting magazine, having achieved profitability through going digital and bravely opening up a website with all articles and historical archives available for free. See this link for an interesting article about the magazines business model.
Click on the link below to access the article about the transformation of Africa. It is a great read.
How Africa’s New Urban Centers Are Shifting Its Old Colonial Boundaries.
As I travel frequently for work in east, west and south Africa, I have seen this happening at an increasing pace.
For example, back in 2008, the airport of Maputo in Mozambique was one of the most aged I had seen. Most aircrafts were small and boarding took place out on the runway.
Then in 2010 a new modern and state-of-the-art terminal with capacity for 900,000 passengers a year was opened, to cover for a multiplied increase in air travelling.
Over the last few years, Mozambique has experienced average economic growth rates in excess of 7%, with the growth of the agricultural, manufacturing industry, trade and transport sectors all playing an important role. The country remains one of the worlds poorest, but this can change fast.
The urban landscapes of Maputo, Lagos, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Accra, etc., are changing fast and development of infra structure often lags behind. Modern city design principles, such as the symbio city initiative, becomes increasingly important.