Studies of government and politics in Africa are dominated by a focus on the national and are typically set apart by anglophone, francophone and lusophone historical influences, with South Africa as an exception. This volume departs from a different set of questions and employs a novel approach in discussing them: cities in sub-Saharan Africa provide the pivot around which issues of policy and practice, planning and service delivery turn, at different scales and both from the top down as well as from the bottom up. Party politics, for example, is discussed at city level and urban security both within a state and a non-state context. The novelty of the approach is found in thematic rather than single-city chapters written by multiple authors each of whom displays depth knowledge of one of three or more cities treated in each case.

This volume will interest scholars of African and of urban studies as well as urban policy-makers and practitioners.