Western Africa: urban culture and change agents

Western African cities such as Douala and Lagos existed as important religious, commercial and trade centres centuries before colonialism but recently have been growing at rates disproportionate to their historical purpose. 162 In the 1960s, two-thirds of urban growth could be attributed to rural-urban migration, as well as the reclassification of smaller settlements which grew to urban size. By the 1990s, this had slowed to 30 per cent. 163 Migration patterns around the turn of the millennium also indicated significant urban-rural flows164 and a small slowdown in urban growth rates (see Section 3.1).

Related Subject(s): Human Settlements and Urban Issues