International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

Livability and Social Exclusion in African Cities: Reviewing Key Shaping Factors and Intervention Strategies

Open access
More people now believe that enhancing a city's liveability will improve the quality of life for city dwellers, especially those from developing countries. African cities suffer severe problems with livability and social exclusion, and resolving these problems requires understanding the main determinants and intervention techniques. Previous researchers have viewed social exclusion and liveability separately, however, their connection in Africa is remarkable. Urban liveability and social exclusivity have been severely impacted across Africa due to rapid urbanisation and many economic, social, and environmental concerns. Using narrative systematic review techniques, this study reviewed previous studies, capturing relevant and current trends and emphasising the adverse effects and possible action plans to lessen social isolation and enhance livability in African cities. It underlines the significance of inclusive and sustainable methods to improve urban dwellers' livability. The study found that the recent COVID-19 pandemic, war, insecurity and insurgency across African cities affect social inclusiveness and livability. The current state of African cities requires more than urban planners and policymakers. There is a need for proactive urban governance, alleviating poverty through empowerment, political stability and the will to bring about liveable cities with social inclusiveness in a sustainable manner.
Anyachebelu, A. (2019). Reducing Social Exclusion in Disadvantaged Urban Areas through Transportation. Social Impact Research Experience (SIRE)., 67.
ADB, A. D. B. (2022). Incluisive Cities: Urban Area Guidelines (Issue March). https://www.adb.org/
ADBG. (2019). Creating Livable Cities: Regional Perspectives. In Creating Livable Cities: Regional Perspectives. African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank. https://doi.org/10.18235/0001939
AfDB. (2022). Transport?: Toward a more inclusive , safer and cleaner mobility in African Cities. https://www.afdb.org/sites/default/files/2023/01/18/transport-toward_a_more_inclusive_safer_and_cleaner_mobility_in_african_cities_-_sudap_paper_-_addb_umdf_-_2022.pdf
Akanmu, A. A., Salisu, U. O., Daramola, O. P., Ogunsesan, A. S., Fasina, S. O., Adejare, J. A., Sanni, S. M., & Olatunji, O. M. (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic and insecurity: the furiousness in Nigerian communities. Urban, Planning and Transport Research, 9(1), 368–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/21650020.2021.1946420
Alderton, A., Davern, M., Nitvimol, K., Butterworth, I., Higgs, C., Ryan, E., & Badland, H. (2019). What is the meaning of urban liveability for a city in a low-to-middle-income country? Contextualising liveability for Bangkok, Thailand. Globalization and Health, 15(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-019-0484-8
Arimah, B. C. (2001). Slums as expression of social exclusion: Explaining the prevalence of slums in African countries. United Nations Human Settlements Programme, 1–33. http://www.oecd.org/dev/pgd/46837274.pdf
Badland, H., Whitzman, C., Lowe, M., Davern, M., Aye, L., Butterworth, I., Hes, D., & Giles-Corti, B. (2014). Urban liveability: Emerging lessons from Australia for exploring the potential for indicators to measure the social determinants of health. Social Science and Medicine, 111, 64–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.04.003
Barry, E. S., Merkebu, J., & Varpio, L. (2022). State-of-the-art literature review methodology: A six-step approach for knowledge synthesis. Perspectives on Medical Education, 281–288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-022-00725-9
Barton, H., Grant, M., Mitcham, C., & Tsourou, C. (2009). Healthy urban planning in European cities. Health Promotion International, 24 Suppl 1(March 2016). https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dap059
Bekele, O.-M. (2022). The effects of the current Ethiopian war on indigenous groups. https://theowp.org/the-effects-of-the-current-ethiopian-war-on-indigenous-groups/
Berdegué, J. A., & Proctor, F. J. (2015). Working Group?: Development with Territorial Cohesion Inclusive Rural – Urban Linkages Julio A . Berdegué and Felicity J . Proctor. WORKING PAPER SERIES Document, January.
Berg, C. N., Deichmann, U., Liu, Y., & Selod, H. (2017). Transport Policies and Development. Journal of Development Studies, 53(4), 465–480.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2016.1199857
Buffel, T., Yarker, S., Phillipson, C., Lang, L., Lewis, C., Doran, P., & Goff, M. (2021). Locked down by inequality: Older people and the COVID-19 pandemic. Urban Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980211041018
Chatziioannou, I., & Alvarez-Icaza, L. (2017). A structural analysis method for the management of urban transportation infrastructure and its urban surroundings. Cogent Engineering, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2017.1326548
Chirisa, I., Bobo, T., & Matamanda, A. (2016). Policies and strategies to manage urban insecurity: Focus on selected African cities. Joppa, 3(2), 93–106.
Cobbinah, P. B. (2021). Enabling Urban Planning Action in Africa: The Praxis and Oddity of COVID-19 Pandemic Response. Journal of Planning Literature, 37(1), 83–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/08854122211055800
Cobbinah, P. B., & Darkwah, R. M. (2017). Toward a more desirable form of sustainable urban development in Africa. African Geographical Review, 36(3), 262–285. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2016.1208770
Cobbinah, P. B., Erdiaw-kwasie, M., Adams, E. A., Brandful, P., Erdiaw-kwasie, M., & Adams, E. A. (2021). COVID-19?: can it transform urban planning in Africa?? ABSTRACT. Cities & Health, 5(1), 48–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2020.1812329
Cobblah, M. A., & van der Walt, T. B. (2017). Staff training and development programmes and work performance in the university libraries in Ghana. Information Development, 33(4), 375–392. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266666916665234
de Haan, L. (2017). Rural and urban livelihoods, social exclusion and social protection in sub-Saharan Africa. Geografisk Tidsskrift - Danish Journal of Geography , 117(2), 130–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/00167223.2017.1343674
Dodman, D., Leck, H., Rusca, M., & Colenbrander, S. (2017). African Urbanisation and Urbanism: Implications for risk accumulation and reduction. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 26(January), 7–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.06.029
ECA/AfDB, O. (2022). Africa ’ s Urbanisation Dynamics 2022.
Echendu, A. J. (2023). Urban planners’ perspectives of public participation in planning in Nigeria. SN Social Sciences, 3(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-022-00604-4
Echendu, A. J., & Okafor, P. C. C. (2021). Smart city technology: a potential solution to Africa’s growing population and rapid urbanization? Development Studies Research, 8(1), 82–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/21665095.2021.1894963
EIU. (2022). The Global Liveability Index 2022. www.eiu.com.
Ekeke, J. N., Nwaiwu, J. N., and Sonari- Otobo, V. (2018). IMPROVING OCCUPATIONAL CAPACITY FOR ENHANCEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE SOCIO- ECONOMIC WELLBEING IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA: THE ROLE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL ACTION. In Early Writings on India (Vol. 8, Issue 1). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315232140-14
Gartenstein-Ross, D. (2015). Dignity and Dawn: Libya’s Escalating Civil War. Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Studies, March. https://doi.org/10.19165/2015.1.01
Gesesew, H., Berhane, K., Siraj, E. S., Siraj, D., Gebregziabher, M., Gebre, Y. G., Gebreslassie, S. A., Amdes, F., Tesema, A. G., Siraj, A., Aregawi, M., Gezahegn, S., & Tesfay, F. H. (2021). The impact of war on the health system of the Tigray region in Ethiopia: an assessment. BMJ Global Health, 6(11). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007328
Ghahramanpouri, A., Lamit, H., & Sedaghatnia, S. (2013). Urban social sustainability trends in research literature. Asian Social Science, 9(4), 185–193. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v9n4p185
Giap, T. K. (2014). A new approach to measuring the liveability of cities?: the Global Liveable Cities Index Tan Khee Giap * Grace Aw. 11(2), 2014.
Greene, S., Pendall, R., Scott, M., & Lei, S. (2016). Open Cities From Economic Exclusion to Urban Inclusion. METROPOLITAN HOUSING AND COMMUNITIES POLI CY CENTER Open, June.
Harris, J. D., Quatman, C. E., Manring, M. M., Siston, R. A., & Flanigan, D. C. (2014). How to write a systematic review. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 42(11), 2761–2768. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546513497567
Harrison, R., Fischer, S., Walpola, R. L., Chauhan, A., Babalola, T., Mears, S., & Le-Dao, H. (2021). Where do models for change management, improvement and implementation meet? A systematic review of the applications of change management models in healthcare. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 13, 85–108. https://doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S289176
Hayes, Alan, M. G. and B. E. (2007). Social Inclusion: Origins, concepts and key themes (Issue January 2018). https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11261.26089
Holden, M., & Scerri, A. (2013). More than this?: Liveable Melbourne meets liveable Vancouver. Cities, 31, 444–453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2012.07.013
Hommann, K., & Lall, S. V. (2019). Which Way to Livable and Productive Cities?: A Road Map for Sub-Saharan Africa. In Which Way to Livable and Productive Cities?: A Road Map for Sub-Saharan Africa. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1405-1
Ilesanmi, A. O. (2012). HOUSING, NEIGHBOURHOOD QUALITY AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PUBLIC HOUSING IN LAGOS, NIGERIA. Int. Journal for Housing Science, 36(4), 231–240. https://medium.com/@arifwicaksanaa/pengertian-use-case-a7e576e1b6bf
Iyanda, S. A., Ismail, O., Fabunmi, F. O., Adeogun, A. S., & Mohit, M. A. (2018). Evaluating Neighborhoods Livability in Nigeria: A Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) Approach. International Journal of Built Environment and Sustainability, 5(1), 47–55. https://doi.org/10.11113/ijbes.v5.n1.245
Kakderi, C., Komninos, N., Panori, A., & Oikonomaki, E. (2021). Next city: Learning from cities during covid-19 to tackle climate change. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063158
Kasim, O. F. (2018). Wellness and illness: the aftermath of urban mass housing in Lagos, Nigeria. Development in Practice, 28(7), 952–963. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2018.1487385
Kasim, O. F., Wahab, B., & Olayide, O. (2021a). Assessing Urban Liveability in Africa: Challenges and Interventions. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructures, May. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95873-6
Kasim, O. F., Wahab, B., & Olayide, O. E. (2021b). Assessing Urban Liveability in Africa: Challenges and Interventions. May, 72–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95873-6_70
Kohon, J. (2018). Social inclusion in the sustainable neighborhood? Idealism of urban social sustainability theory complicated by realities of community planning practice. City, Culture and Society, 15(March 2017), 14–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2018.08.005
Kutty, A. A., Wakjira, T. G., Kucukvar, M., Abdella, G. M., & Onat, N. C. (2022). Urban resilience and livability performance of European smart cities: A novel machine learning approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 378(November 2021), 134203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134203
Leby, J. L., & Hashim, A. H. (2010). Liveability dimensions and attributes: Their relative importance in the eyes of neighbourhood residentS. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 15(1), 67–91.
Lu, Y., Papagiannidis, S., & Alamanos, E. (2018). Internet of things: A systematic review of the business literature from the user and organisational perspectives. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 136(July 2016), 285–297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.01.022
Marikyan, D., Papagiannidis, S., & Alamanos, E. (2019). A systematic review of the smart home literature: A user perspective. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 138(June 2018), 139–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.08.015
Mcarthur, J., & Robin, E. (2019). Victims of their own ( definition of ) success?: Urban discourse and expert knowledge production in the Liveable City. Urban Studies, 36–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098018804759
McFarlane, C. (2016). Urban Poverty in the Global South: Scale and Nature, By Diana Mitlin and David Satterhwaite Reducing Urban Poverty in the Global South, By David Satterthwaite and Diana Mitlin. The Journal of Development Studies, 52(12), 1827–1829. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2016.1202886
Mohit, M. A., & Iyanda, S. A. (2016). Liveability and Low-income Housing in Nigeria. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 222(December), 863–871. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.198
Nations, U. (2020). The Sustainable Development Goals Report. The Sustainable Development Goals Report, 1–68.
Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J. (2020). Urban and transport planning pathways to carbon neutral, liveable and healthy cities; A review of the current evidence. Environment International, 140(March), 105661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105661
Nkem, A. C., Topp, S. M., Devine, S., Li, W. W., & Ogaji, D. S. (2022). The impact of oil industry-related social exclusion on community wellbeing and health in African countries. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.858512
Nowosielski, M. (2012). Challenging urban exclusion? Theory and practice. Polish Sociological Review, 371–383(3), 369–383.
Ogunkan, D. V. (2021). Management of Sustainable Cities in Nigeria?: The Imperative of Urban Governance. 21(2).
Organization, U. W. H. (2015). 2015 Update and MDG Assessment.
Pieterse, S. P. E. (2015). Africa’s Urban Revolution.
Piper, R. J. (2013). How ti write systematic review. National AMR, 1(2), 1–8. http://cures.cardiff.ac.uk/files/2014/10/NSAMR-Systematic-Review.pdf%0Acures.cardiff.ac.uk/files/2014/.../NSAMR-Systematic-Review.pdf
Planners, N. I. T. (2020). Conference Papers. A Bibliography of Studies and Translations of Modern Chinese Literature, 1918–1942, 222–224. https://doi.org/10.1163/9781684171927_007
PRIA. (2013). Appreciation Programme Participatory Urban Planning?: Making Cities Inclusive of Urban Poor Module - II. 1–22.
Satterthwaite, D. (2017). The impact of urban development on risk in sub-Saharan Africa’s cities with a focus on small and intermediate urban centres. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 26(September), 16–23.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.09.025
Schmeisser, B. (2013). A systematic review of literature on offshoring of value chain activities. Journal of International Management, 19(4), 390–406.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2013.03.011
Sietchiping, R., Permezel, M. J., & Ngomsi, C. (2012). Transport and mobility in sub-Saharan African cities: An overview of practices, lessons and options for improvements. Cities, 29(3), 183–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2011.11.005
Sheikh, T. W., & van Ameijde, J. (2022). Promoting Livability Through Urban Planning: A Comprehensive Framework Based on the “Theory of Human Needs.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 131(August), 103972. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4004703
The Guardian. (2023). Sudan rivals trade blame as fighting continues despite ceasefire extension. 1–8. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/01/sudan-rivals-trade-blame-as-fighting-continues-despite-ceasefire-extension
Thorns, D. C. (2002). Urban Social Inequality and Social Exclusion. The Transformation of Cities, Castells 1998, 149–177. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-9031-0_7
Tini, N. H., & Joshua Light, B. (2020). Impacts of Urban Sprawl on Livability in Kaduna Metropolis, Nigeria. International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology, 334–343. https://doi.org/10.32628/ijsrst207644
Titz, A., & Chiotha, S. S. (2019). Pathways for sustainable and inclusive cities in Southern and Eastern Africa through Urban green infrastructure? Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11102729
Tolfo, G., & Doucet, B. (2022). Livability for whom?: Planning for livability and the gentrification of memory in Vancouver. Cities, 123(January), 103564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103564
UN-HAaBITAT. (2009). Planning Sustainable Cities (Vol. 21, Issue 1). http://journal.um-surabaya.ac.id/index.php/JKM/article/view/2203
UN-HABITAT. (2011). Cities for All: Bridging the Urban Divide – State of the World’s Cities 2010/2011 by UN-HABITAT. In First published by Earthscan in the UK and USA in 2008 for and on behalf of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). http://unhabitat.org/books/state-of-the-worlds-cities-20102011-cities-for-all-bridging-the-urban-divide/
UN-HABITAT. (2016). URBANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT Emerging Futures. In Professional Case Management (Vol. 21, Issue 4). https://doi.org/10.1097/NCM.0000000000000166
UN. (2016). Report on the World Social Situation. In American Sociological Review (Vol. 23, Issue 2, p. 238). https://doi.org/10.2307/2089039
UNEP. (2012). Sustainable , Resource E fficient Cities – Making it Happen?!
United-Nations. (2009). Human development report 2009: “Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development.” In Geographische Rundschau (Vol. 61, Issue 12).
Victoria A. Beard, Anjali Mahendra, M. I. W. (2016). Towards a More Equal City?: Framing the Challenges and Opportunities.
Vidojevi?, J. (2017). Conceptualization of Social Exclusion in Africa: In Search of Inclusive Development. Law and Development Conference, Cape Town, South Africa, September. http://www.lawanddevelopment.net/img/2017papers/Jelena.Vidojevic.pdf
Wahba, S. N. (2022). Can cities bounce back better from COVID-19? Reflections from emerging post-pandemic recovery plans and trade-offs. Environment and Urbanization, 34(2), 481–496. https://doi.org/10.1177/09562478221102867
Watson and Agbola. (2013). Who will plan African Cities? Africa Research Institute- Uniderstanding Africa Today, 1–12.
Zhan, D., Kwan, M. P., Zhang, W., Fan, J., Yu, J., & Dang, Y. (2018). Assessment and determinants of satisfaction with urban livability in China. Cities, 79(February), 92–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.02.025