Will skyscrapers one day represent the prosperity that every Angolan citizen has dreamed about? Perhaps.

From the Middle East to North America, high-rise buildings and skyscrapers are cropping up as a symbol of wealth and prosperity in global cities. Modern Africa has experienced unprecedented urban growth and embraced zoning regulations and reforms that incentivize high-density growth and mixed-use buildings in major metropolitan areas. 

During my recent trip to Luanda, the capital of Angola, the first thing that caught my attention was the city’s skyline.

“This plot is not for sale” are the six words you will find, marked on a lot of properties and plots of land in Uganda. The words are meant to ward off quack land or property brokers and conmen. Most of the cases handled in courts in Uganda, and Kampala in particular, are fraud-related cases (like selling land while the true owners are away using counterfeit titles) and land transaction fraud (when fake land titles are obtained and sadly some officers in the land registry are involved).

We are excited to announce that Dr. Margaret Rugadya, Ph.D. is joining the Resource Equity team. Dr Rugadya comes to us from the Ford Foundation, and we are thrilled to welcome her.

“Margaret brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with her. As a researcher, she will contribute a new perspective to Resource Equity.” – Renée Giovarelli           

This week, more than 1,500 development professionals from around the world are gathering at the World Bank’s annual Land and Poverty Conference, discussing the latest research and innovations in policies and good practice on land governance. 

The recent 11^thsession of the Working Party on Land Administration took place in Geneva late last month.  We spoke with Paul van Asperen of the University of Twente regarding the event.  

This week,the 11^thsession of the Working Party on Land Administration convenes in Geneva, Switzerland. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) hosts the event and it will discuss the megatrends impactingland administration, such as, new business ecosystems, urbanization, climate change, disruptive technology, migration, etc.

Social watchdogs and development activists in Rajshahi unequivocally called for safeguarding the marginal and other rootless populations for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. 

They mentioned that the present government had been working relentlessly to attain the Sustainable Development Goals.  Emphasis should be given on proper and adequate rehabilitation of the vulnerable population, they said.  All government and non-government entities concerned should come forward and work together to this end.

Welcome to 2019. In San Francisco, commuters shuttle to work in self-driving Ubers. In Rwanda, drones deliver blood to patients. In China, Xiaomi released a $500 phone that allows users to map the world with 30 centimeter accuracy.

And yet, a quarter of the world’s population lacks a fundamental human right: the right to property.

By 2050, two thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas. How cities develop will determine whether we can reduce economic and racial inequality, effectively address climate change, and meet many of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development goals. The human rights movement can help move cities in the right direction, through more engagement in municipal-level policy and advocacy, and through greater attention to the growing corporate influence within our cities.

A revolution is underway. In Latin America, it has likely crested. In Southeast Asia and West Africa, it is moving apace. In East Africa, it is at its most intense.

It is brewing most remarkably not in storied national capitals and megacities, but in the medium sized, second-tier cities, less watched by governments and journalists. Cities that might double in size in 12-15 years, yet already under-resourced.

It is a demographic revolution: significant population growth which drives the epochal growth of city dwelling, as the world becomes ever more urban.