“Historically, urbanisation has been linked with industrialisation, which has both facilitated cities’ growth and depended on it. Cities have also made possible the efficient delivery of all kinds of services — energy, water, health, education, finance, logistics, media, transport, etc. In the light of these considerations CDE launched a project framed around the question of whether South Africa could build “cities of hope” — cities in which large numbers of
otherwise marginalised young people could find work, start businesses and improve the quality of their lives. To answer the question, we asked a range of international experts on the economics of cities in developing countries to prepare reports to be discussed at a workshop attended by leaders from government, business, civil society, academia and urban practitioners in June 2013. This is a summary of the conclusions most relevant for South Africa.”
