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Sam Hickey
(University of Manchester)
Diana Mitlin
(University of Manchester)
Tim Kelsall
(ODI)
Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai
(University of Ghana Business School)
Discussants:
Beth Chitekwe-Biti
(SDI Slum Dwellers International)
Caroline Skinner
(University of Cape Town)
Lorraine Howe
(Centre for Research on Governance and Development (CPGD), Mozambique)
Getachew Bekele
(Addis Ababa University)
Format:
Panel
Streams:
Politics and political economy
Sessions:
Wednesday 6 July, -
Time zone: Europe/London
The political economy of urban reform in Africa: from analysis to action.
Panel P11c at conference DSA2022: Just sustainable futures in an urbanising and mobile world.
New research on the political economy of African cities, with a dedicated focus on dealing with covid-19, and on the role of coalitions in promoting more just and sustainable urban futures.
Long Abstract:
Urbanisation with little structural transformation has left urban economies under considerable stress. The Covid-19 crisis is acute and has had a disproportionate effect on urban areas primarily because of over-crowded under-serviced low-income neighbourhoods and the impact of lockdowns and other restrictions on mobility of urban economic activities. Gender disadvantages are acute, with women having relatively low remuneration and a considerable burden related to their role in social reproduction. African cities are also increasingly threatened by climate change.
These and many other challenges facing African cities are firmly embedded in problems of political economy and governance at multiple levels. Cities offer a valuable source of both rents and political legitimacy for elites at national and city levels. However, the frequently oppositional nature of urban populations often leads to tensions between urban voters and national governments. City governments seldom have the autonomy to deal with their challenges, being located within multi-levelled systems of governance that are often dysfunctional and which fail to afford them the fiscal, political and bureaucratic capabilities to address complex problems.
This panel will showcase new work that uses a political economy perspective to understand both the challenges facing African cities and the prospects for interventions and reforms that can address them. At least three sessions will be organised by the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC), an international partnership based at the University of Manchester. This will include:
(a) One or two sessions based on the use of ‘political settlements’ analysis to help advance our understanding of the challenges facing African cities. A conceptual paper plus case-studies drawn from Accra, Freetown, Harare, Lilongwe, Maiduguri, Mogadishu and Nairobi will be submitted in advance. Expert chairs will ensure that an active discussion is organised around key themes.
(b) A session on the politics of covid -19, drawing both on “top down” interventions and the remaking of bottom-up coalitions pressing for reform in Kampala, Lilongwe, Mogadishu and Nairobi. Examines urban management and governance under the stress of the pandemic.
(c) A roundtable session focused on a paper on the role that ‘coalitions’ can play in navigating the politics of African cities in pursuit of more just and sustainable solutions. The lead author is Diana Mitlin and ACRC will compose a panel of both academic and policy experts, including from the global South, to discuss the paper and its implications for a new generation of reforms in African cities.
We will welcome other papers into this panel also use political economy analysis to unpack the challenges facing African cities and/or on how a new generation of politically feasible reforms aimed at tackling these challenges might emerge.
A discussion about the ways in which transformative change to address inequalities and create opportunities for low income and marginalized groups can be secured. One strategy used to good effect by some groups has been urban reform coalitions; and this paper explores and analyses their efforts.
Paper long abstract:
The contribution of reform coalitions to transformative urban change has been recognised. To address diverse and complex needs in urban centres we need to replicate such efforts and scale inclusive and equitable urban development.
While the effectiveness of coalitions has been recognised, there has little analysis of the formation and work of such coalitions in the global South. Most relevant research has had a primary focus on the global North. This paper contributes to gap by exploring four coalitions recognised as exemplar by urban social movements in the global South. We conclude that coalitions contribute to pro-poor change because they increase recognition of the most disadvantaged urban residents. Both the increase in recognition and the enhanced relations associated with coalitions enable them, and other coalition members, to secure greater legitimacy for themselves and their reform efforts. Coalitions help to generate knowledge that advances their cause. Coalitions also generate knowledge about the outcomes of projects and programmes, sharpening reform plans and enhancing efforts.
Such benefits are not given but are contextually specific. The nature and extent of democracy makes a difference to the extent to which coalition efforts are effective. Also significant is the subjectivity of coalition members, and how this changes through coalition related experiences. While we are cautious about bold conclusions, it appears that effective coalition building can, through the above mechanisms, change the distribution of power are enable more pro-poor initiatives.
In this paper, we review over 150 published articles on co-production, to demonstrate subtle differences in the landscape of co-production across different sectors such as green and blue commons, transport, housing, and energy.
Paper long abstract:
Co-production is increasingly recognised as an appropriate response to gaps in infrastructure services that shape urban lives. However, co-production takes many forms depending on the material and institutional environmental within which it is deployed. How do co-production practices vary across different urban sectors? In this paper, we review over 150 published articles on co-production, to demonstrate subtle differences in the landscape of co-production across different sectors such as green and blue commons, transport, housing, and energy.
The second part of the paper articulates the variation of co-production approaches across geographies, zooming in on one sector, the coproduction of energy services in urban areas. The analysis demonstrates differences in geographies of engagement, the technologies adopted, scales of intervention, types of actor groups involved, and the collective's interactions with policy. Drawing on results of the review, we articulate the plural, and multi-level challenges facing urban energy coproduction, particular at the level of individuals, communities, state and policy making, and the involvement of boundary spanners or third actors within the co-production landscape. Our analysis shows how specific power configurations operating across these various levels of interaction shape the deployment of coproduction methodologies with varying degrees of effectiveness. Further, we demonstrate how co-production can be shaped differently by different interactions across various actor groups, having implications on how community led collectives can self-organize towards achieving their desired objectives.
Keywords: Co-production, energy, boundary actors, institutions, power
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Diana Mitlin (University of Manchester)
Tim Kelsall (ODI)
Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai (University of Ghana Business School)
Caroline Skinner (University of Cape Town)
Lorraine Howe (Centre for Research on Governance and Development (CPGD), Mozambique)
Getachew Bekele (Addis Ababa University)
Short Abstract:
New research on the political economy of African cities, with a dedicated focus on dealing with covid-19, and on the role of coalitions in promoting more just and sustainable urban futures.
Long Abstract:
Urbanisation with little structural transformation has left urban economies under considerable stress. The Covid-19 crisis is acute and has had a disproportionate effect on urban areas primarily because of over-crowded under-serviced low-income neighbourhoods and the impact of lockdowns and other restrictions on mobility of urban economic activities. Gender disadvantages are acute, with women having relatively low remuneration and a considerable burden related to their role in social reproduction. African cities are also increasingly threatened by climate change.
These and many other challenges facing African cities are firmly embedded in problems of political economy and governance at multiple levels. Cities offer a valuable source of both rents and political legitimacy for elites at national and city levels. However, the frequently oppositional nature of urban populations often leads to tensions between urban voters and national governments. City governments seldom have the autonomy to deal with their challenges, being located within multi-levelled systems of governance that are often dysfunctional and which fail to afford them the fiscal, political and bureaucratic capabilities to address complex problems.
This panel will showcase new work that uses a political economy perspective to understand both the challenges facing African cities and the prospects for interventions and reforms that can address them. At least three sessions will be organised by the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC), an international partnership based at the University of Manchester. This will include:
(a) One or two sessions based on the use of ‘political settlements’ analysis to help advance our understanding of the challenges facing African cities. A conceptual paper plus case-studies drawn from Accra, Freetown, Harare, Lilongwe, Maiduguri, Mogadishu and Nairobi will be submitted in advance. Expert chairs will ensure that an active discussion is organised around key themes.
(b) A session on the politics of covid -19, drawing both on “top down” interventions and the remaking of bottom-up coalitions pressing for reform in Kampala, Lilongwe, Mogadishu and Nairobi. Examines urban management and governance under the stress of the pandemic.
(c) A roundtable session focused on a paper on the role that ‘coalitions’ can play in navigating the politics of African cities in pursuit of more just and sustainable solutions. The lead author is Diana Mitlin and ACRC will compose a panel of both academic and policy experts, including from the global South, to discuss the paper and its implications for a new generation of reforms in African cities.
We will welcome other papers into this panel also use political economy analysis to unpack the challenges facing African cities and/or on how a new generation of politically feasible reforms aimed at tackling these challenges might emerge.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 6 July, 2022, -Diana Mitlin (University of Manchester)
Hita Unnikrishnan (The University of Sheffield) Vanesa Castán Broto (University of Sheffield)