Negotiating the Livelihoods of Children and Youth in Africa’s Urban Spaces Michael Bourdillon is a Professor of the Department of Sociology, University of Zimbabwe. He is involved in organisations dedicated to helping street children and has written various books about topics like working children and their livelihoods in Zimbabwe. In this book, Michael Bourdillon explores different situations in which it can be seen how children and youth battle their lives in the complex urban spaces of the African continent. There exists diverse roles involved in the urban definition but a very important group of people that should be taken care of is this one: the future inhabitants that will define the conditions of the upcoming urban transformation in Africa. As it has been discussed in the “African cities: an introduction to urban planning” course, African populations have been experiencing high growth rates and the phenomenon of an increased proportion of young people. Rural areas do not satisfy people’s needs anymore and it ends up in high levels of migration of groups who are looking for better opportunities, for something to eat and somewhere to live. It is about an scenario composed by poor services, extreme poverty, inadequate housing… and these are the conditions where huge amounts of children and young people have to live and survive with. In general, there are three principal aspects that deserve to be mentioned in this note. Children deserve to be respected and their rights. This group of people is considered passive in every culture as a common factor, but especially in Africa, where the line between work and childhood does not exist, they are not heard at all. This causes confusion when children organisations get into these environments and try to do something about this situations. Not every effort seems to work because it exists a misunderstanding between what it is supposed to be and what it is actually happening inside. African children and youth have a very different perspective about work and their duties. In other cultures, work is something that is an adult’s responsibility. In Africa, children work, this way they can live and contribute to their families’ subsistence. Also, in the study cases included in the book, children see work as entertainments activities, beyond it is an obligation that they assume truly convinced. Obviously, there are adults that exploit children, just as seen the Yaoundé case of food prostitution, but they get their own jobs and they search for means of living. The third point is children find entertainment and social consensus alternatives within the environments that surround them. For example, there are local cinema halls among urban youths in South West Nigeria and the Youth Group in Uganda. In these study cases, it is observed how children keep themselves apart from violence and drugs through these kind of interactions. They have a very hopeful look on the future and want to transform their realities. But they need tools, education, a better understanding, a better approach from the laboral market to embrace these groups of people and create more opportunities for these proactive human beings. Using all these cases, the essays show the great potential children and youth have to take control of their lives, no matter the difficulties they go through because of the society they are imposed to live in. According to all the facts shown in this very useful book edited by Professor Bourdillon, it is important to recognize the importance of work in the raising of the African children and youth. However, there is a need of education that can provide better tools for them to propose and contribute in a higher level to the urban transformation. Employers should be regulated in order to adjust a schedule for every child and young worker to attend classes and a proportional worktime. This way they can continue with their traditions in moderate conditions and be trained for a complex future. Also, their opinions really count in the solution of these structural issues because a lot of debates are issued all around the world and inside the children organisations; anyway, their needs are not attended fully and the shift from passive to active would be fundamental to a success in these aspects. Finally, it is key to see that African planning should take care of every group of interest involved and children are a key to the achievement of strategic solutions in order to generate a better impact in African urban transformation. Bourdillon, Michael. (2012). Negotiating of the livelihood of Children and Youth in Africa's Urban Spaces. CODESRIA. http://www.codesria.org/spip.php?article1593&lang=en