The World Bank, drawing from its extensive experience in urban development with 110 projects in Africa (valued at $3,461 million), acknowledges both successes and challenges. Despite a positive performance, a major future challenge looms: the anticipated migration of 50 million people to West African cities in the next decade, posing potential social unrest. The book addresses lessons learned over two decades, emphasizing the need for basic services, prioritizing underserved areas, and dealing with issues like irregular settlements and urban sprawl. Complementary measures involving information, urban planning, and land management are proposed, along with a focus on decentralization. The text stresses the importance of partnerships, particularly with decentralized entities, viewing decentralization as an opportunity rather than an end in itself. Contractual agreements between municipalities, central government, funding agencies, and executing agencies are suggested, tying financing to municipal reforms. The emergence of agencies like "Agetip" is acknowledged, and efforts to enhance their effectiveness in supporting urban development projects are highlighted. The financing of urban projects is examined, emphasizing the limited local capacity and the necessity for new rules in external aid use. Recommendations for central and local governments address challenges such as transfers, budgeting approaches, legal reforms, and improving local tax systems. The conclusion introduces a toolkit encompassing operational tools for urban planning, land management, finance, taxation, and municipal contracts. While not exhaustive, these tools contribute to a coherent strategy for future urban projects.

The book sums up and looks into 25 years of the urban development sector in Western Francophone Africa, in particular focusing its attention on the projects supported and implemented by the World Bank. Indeed, written by Catherine Farvacque-Vitkovic' and Lucien Godin and published by the Bank itself, the work looks like a manifesto of the famous UN’ institution. The basic goal of the work is to provide a sort of handbook to use urban projects in order to deal with the tumultuous phenomenon of urbanism in Western Africa, a phenomenon affected by massive migration of people from rural into urban areas. As a matter of fact, while Africa was 80 percent rural at the time of independence, its rate of urbanization now stands at 50 percent, and the trend is expected to continue over the coming years. The book points out how, though this growth has outstripped local capacities of management, absorption and financing, handling these forces is a vital goal for the future of Africa, since the rise of African cities can add new dynamism to the process of economic growth, if well managed. In this respect, the authors’ intention is to suggest an agenda for the future, in which the first half of the books deals with the ideal methods and recommendations to plan urban projects in Francophone Africa. These focus on where, who and how to direct investments. In order to do so , the authors stress the importance to take into account the global context and the current and in perspective situation: urban population is now in the majority; a rising urban poverty and the spread of squatter settlements; resource restrictions; the weakness of local taxation; an on-going decentralization; the rise of the cooperative sector and the arrival of new players (i.e. Agetips). The last part of the book, finally, describes and sketches some fundamental tools for urban planning, such as (but not limited to): aerial photography; urban sketch maps; urban reference plan; urban grind; urban audit; environmental impact evaluation benchmark document; tax registries; municipal facilities catalogue, municipality contract. These tools are presented and thought to enhance possibilities to answer the three fundamental facets (where, who, how) and meet the expectations. The authors rise most interesting and important topics trying to answer these three following fundamental questions: • What should be the priority areas of action under future urban projects? • Who should be the partners? • Where should urban investments be made, and how should they be financed? For the very first question, the work alleges that urban projects should provide basic services to the greatest number of people in ways that will enhance standards of living for the most disadvantaged groups. “Provide basic services to the greatest number of people” essentially stands for focusing on (a) road, drainage, and sanitation infrastructure; (b) household garbage collection, provision of public standpipes and street lighting; and (c) neighborhood facilities related to basic services (primary schools, dispensaries), commercial services (marketplaces, bus and truck stations, slaughterhouses), and administrative services. Other revenue- producing, "marketable" services (domestic water supply, electricity, telephones) are not taken into account by the authors because delegated by concession or beyond the very basic idea of the projects. This provision should prioritize the poorest classes of society in order to avoid or reduce the creation of ghettos and slums. This means to operate on irregular neighborhoods such as spontaneous settlements, existing and underserviced neighborhoods, and peri-urban settlements. Although the worries and resistances of local and national powers, the book underlines how fundamental could be regularize land tenure (one of the main problem and burden is, indeed, the regulation of land properties – whose the authors ask for reformation) and, if necessary, monitor so that radical methods (disruptions, displacements and mistreatments) are avoided. With respect to the second item, government is always the main partner and privileged speaker for underpinning projects, but now in a new “fashion”. The tide of decentralization is spreading over most countries in the region, although levels of commitment and progress vary. As the authors state, decentralization should be seen as an opportunity but not as an end in itself. Until lately, the decision-making process was too centralized by Government. This finds difficult to match the hoped outcome because government is more suited to regulation and control than to project execution, and official rules and regulations are often inappropriate to the circumstances and too cumbersome to allow projects to be completed on time. Now, local authorities are told more suitable to decide and finance since they know best how to adjust services to meet the needs of beneficiaries and are also likely to act with greater accountability and transparency, since they must answer directly to their constituencies. However, this assumption isn’t always neither followed by money and authorities transfers nor by accuracy and clearness. The scene is completed by two other actors: donors and Agetips. Donor support ought to intervene as part of a long-term process where there are sufficient signs of central government commitment and local dynamism, the book asserts. The "Agetip" (Agence d'Execution de Travaux d'Interet Public pour l'Emploi) is a new arrival on the scene. More than a dozen of them, the writer states, are currently operating in the region. They were introduced originally to (a) promote speedy, transparent procurement for public works, (b) generate employment and stimulate small and medium-scale enterprises, and (c) inject funding into modest but visible and politically rewarding projects-and they have certainly lived up to those expectations. With their focus on job creation the Agetips –created in the 90s- were not specifically called "urban" projects, although their thrust directly involved urban services and facilities. Concerning this issue, a first facet to stress is the importance to define tasks and borders of each of these actors during the project. In particular, for which actions are in charge central (hospital, schools..) or local (streets, lights..) governments and who prepares the decision and who manages its execution; specifically, the authors operate a distinction between contract managers and delegated contract managers. The first, local and central governments above all, essentially should program and decide the execution, the latter ones, i.e. Agetips and cooperative agencies, are primarily providers of services. Finally, the underestimated maintenance should fall above municipality. In this respect, it’s here underlined how the tendency to appoint Agetips of “quasi-absolute” powers has to be avoided because could create detrimental competition and works well only in “emergency” situations (which shouldn’t be in any case the standard). Moreover, it’s suggested to take into account as many institutions and interest as possible in the designing and operational action, if one wants to succeed. For the latter aspect (where urban investment should be made and financed) while “where” urban investments should be directed was already clarified, “how” these investments should be gotten is still obscure. On one hand, indeed, we saw three types of geographic areas offer potential for intervention: (a) irregular and spontaneous settlements (slums); (b) existing, underserviced neighborhoods; and (c) periurban areas (future extensions). On the other hand, it’s more and more difficult to find out how one could finance these developments. In the past, urbanization project was a domain of central government. This assistance remains vital, but now new rules should be defined because we can’t count on central governments as it was in the past, essentially due to the financial crisis. To do so, we should be willing to confront three major obstacles: transfers, "unicité de caisse" (the "consolidated revenue" approach to budgeting and funding, whereby the central government appropriates local revenues), and legal reform concerning local taxation. Despite of delocalization trend, local capacity to finance urban services is increasingly limited and isn’t able to keep the pace of urban growth. Taken for granted this scenario, the only solution seems to move on according to the authors and World Bank’s doctrine. This is based on a wider financial gathering in the form of globalization and mixed funding that is to say a mix of local, government and grants and loans from third actors. Furthermore, a contract approach clearing expectations, benefits and commitments should be formally issued. In a larger sense, all these actions should be supported by a better cost recovery. In order to achieve all these goals, the book provides a number of recommendations for accomplish: • improving the quality of expenditures • improving local accounting and budgetary practices • improving taxpayer identification systems, and improving local tax collection Nevertheless, as it’s pointed out, we shall be aware of some difficulties and of the fact that these recommendations are interrelated. For example, to overcome these complications, projects gradually began to pay more attention to resource mobilization and local taxation. But overall, results were disappointing when measured against the obvious needs. That’s because: (a) It is impossible to mobilize local resources if local people are excluded from a meaningful role in project identification; (b) The fiscal health of local authorities in Francophone Africa cannot be improved without overcoming certain dogmas (which most countries have managed to circumvent). So, the work lays emphasis on the identification aspect since the lack of the latter avoids to engender a sense of responsibility among local beneficiaries, that could be so important for financial sustainability. In this direction, a reformation of taxation carves an important position in the work and the authors’ proposal is that taxes actually should be paid out according to the occupancy of the land and not on the basis of a legal possession. In my opinion, these answers’ exposition has got the quality of pointing out valid strategies and recommendations. These valid points concern the authors’ intention to suggest a planning based on the context and focused on the poorest classes and on who really needs. Moreover, the authors insist that urban planning and actions have to be conceived by each actor interested and, above all, try to make all the recipients feel responsible, fact that means a refurbishment of tax system too. Anyways, for me, this dissertation manifests also some undeniable shortcomings, possibly due to the informative and institutional nature of the book. First, environmental issues and problems aren’t seriously taken into account by the authors, nevertheless these are some of the more urgent concerns for scholars and experts about the future of Africa and the whole world. Indeed, the work deals with this matter only in chapter 5 and briefly. Furthermore, a other important concern for me is the lack of dissertation and consideration of a critical aspect linked to a broader commitment, economic and strategic, of all the inhabitants (cornerstone of an inclusive urban planning oriented towards the needy): the creation of a different, new form of participation, maybe democratic. In my opinion, this would be the critical turning point for a continent that looks like leaving the democratic path it has started after the end of colonialism. Bibliography: G. McGranahan, D. Mitlin, D. Satterthwaite, C. Tacoli and I. Turok - Africa’s urban transition and the role of regional collaboration- IIED 2009 AA.VV.-Quelques rues d’afrique; observation et gestion de l’espace public à abidjan, dakar et nouakchott – Lasur 2009

The publication ‘The future of African cities : challenges and priorities for urban development’ answers two main questions about the days to come: ‘What have we learned?’ and ‘Where are we going?’ The book focused on priority areas was written by Catherine Farvacque-Vitkovic’, senior urban development specialist in the Africa Department at The World Bank, and Lucien Godin, architect and urban planner from Groupe Huit. The text treats all main urban planning issues that are adequate to rapid urbanization in African cities. It is based on researches consisting of experiences from past interventions and forecasted data. Most from the conclusions are evident but shown in a wider context gain in importance. There are citied three main principles of operation that are crucial to develop in the right direction: - ‘Find simple solutions to complex problems’ - ‘Don’t lose sight of the beneficiaries’ - ‘Choose the right partners’. All of them are highly reasonable and based on experience. The authors focus not only on writing about providing basic services but also on methods of resolving the problem. The point is that lack of solid waste management, sanitation facilities, water supplies, secondary roads and mobilization of local resources is rooted in more complex, former decisions such as: lack of master plans, plot management, tax collection, lawlessness, ignorance, learning from mistakes and even more. A lot of consideration is directed into financial aspects. As long as 90% of resources are donated from external units such as World Bank, they need to be spent reasonable with idea of greater good that last long and bring further benefits. There are answers for all leading questions: ‘How should urban investments be financed?’ and ‘Who should be the partners?’ Engagement of local population and strict rules of the provision of assistance are the key to long-term effects. There are many tools to succeed. The success is meant by ‘enhancing the management capacity and responsibility of local goverments’. Joining forces to meet the overriding objective is possible but time- and money-consuming. After all it is definitely worth it. The book ‘The future of African cities : challenges and priorities for urban development’ introduces the situation, context and future predictions of African cities. It is a guidebook for everyone that is interested in collection the basic information about urban planning in Africa.

The Future of African Cities was published in 1998 by the World Bank. It consists of a study regarding African cities, especially those in francophone countries. The study was conducted by Catherine Farvacque-Vitkovic', a specialist in urban development in the African Department of the World Bank, and by Lucien Godin, architect and urban planner from Group Huit; it examines the role of the World Bank in the urban development sector over the past 25 years, and it tries to answer to two fundamental questions: what have we learned, and where are we going. It then gives some guidelines to determine the priorities in future planning, and it suggests some tools to put the plans into fruition. After a brief summary about the evolution of the urban project in francophone Africa from the Seventies to present day, the study focuses on what should be the priorities in future urban projects. The first theme is that of basic services such as roads, water, sewage and housing. The inadequacy of the routes to connect different areas of the city is presented as one of the main causes of segregation; moreover, roads are essential to introduce services into the slums. Since the central Government lacks the resources to ensure the maintenance of the routes, the authors suggest that road management should be progressively entrusted to local administration, starting from secondary routes. As much as this may sound convenient, I believe one must bear in mind that decentralisation presents some risks: there is no guarantee that municipal structures will be efficient in the administration. Moreover, the State might further distance itself from public management. A reflection on the benefits and risks of decentralisation is presented in chapter 3 of the book. Following, the study examines 3 areas where investments should be considered a priority: slums, service-lacking neighbourhoods, and areas of peri-urban expansion. Going from planning to practice in slums is particularly difficult, as inhabitants are generally newcomers who still have to adapt to the city, and the urban fabric is extremely complex. The authors suggest that the slum rehabilitation procedure should be extremely simplified, and that it should focus on upgrading neighbourhood infrastructure rather than – at least in this phase – trying to regularize land ownership, as this is a complex issue that requires a long-term approach, and undertaking it now may slow down the rehabilitation process. Moreover, we can read “Active involvement of the people affected is essential for success in this type of operation. Our recommendation is to take advantage of permanent structures, perhaps of the Agetip kind, to help neighbourhoods prepare programs for funding”. With a little further research, Agetip (Agence d'Execution des Travaux d'Interet Public contre le sous-emploi) is a public works and employment agency first introduced in Senegal, which then stimulated the creation of similar agencies in other African countries. Although Agetip was created by the Senegalese government with the collaboration of donors (especially the World Bank), it is a private, non-profit agency that does not rely on external funding and that does not carry out works itself, but delegates them. Agetips, which are more in depth analysed in this book, were described as extremely efficient and effective by an evaluation from the World Bank (1996), but were also criticised as they did not involve the local community and the beneficiaries in the planning process. As for peri-urban areas, they generally begin as low-density settlements and then degenerate into irregular conglomerates. One possible solution is to establish a basic setting for new occupants, such as a grid. A regular subdivision can facilitate the setup of an efficient network of services. Regarding the involvement of local communities in the creation of the plan, I believe this would be beneficial for a number of reasons. First of all, different competences and points of view can make the diagnosis much richer and precise. Secondly, both implementing the plan and ensuring it is respected are much easier if those who have to perform these actions are the same who contributed to the plan in its early stages. Lastly, moving the city can be an extremely displacing, disorientating experience, in which one may lose all their reference points; involving communities in planning could help having a clearer frame of the cultural needs of the population. Further on, the authors reflect on what should be the methods of financing urban investments. They review two methods – mixed funding and the contract approach – and highlight the importance of analysing the context where the project will be developed in order to choose the right strategy and maximise the chances of success. The authors suggest that three indicators should be used in undertaking such analysis, and present three case studies, along with a series of possible measures to improve quality in the management of urban investments. The language here becomes rather technical, but it is nonetheless clear that part of the difficulties in managing investments and financing stem from the need to balance between the central government and the local scale. The unicité de caisse principle, for instance, obstructs a regular flow of funds from the states to the cities, as the former tend to hold on to the money originally collected for the latter. There have been a number of measures, mostly irregular, to work around this system, such as in N'Djamena where the municipality created its own private bank account. It is clear that any solution should be approached gradually; personally, I believe that abandoning the unicité de caisse principle for entirely local management would increase the separation between State and city; moreover, it would require a reformation of the local taxation system which is probably not sustainable in the short term. Nonetheless, it is clear that the states alone cannot efficiently provide the resources that cities need. Perhaps, balancing between local and central government is now the most feasible solution indeed. In the last chapter of the book, the authors suggest some tools for future urban projects. Apart from the aforementioned Agetips, I found that two specific tools were particularly interesting. The first one is the Urban Reference Plan. It is a simplified urban planning documents which indicates development in the future 10 to 15 years. It is made quickly and regularly updated. I am especially convinced by the fact that it is made for direct use, and allows to avoid the lengthy bureaucratic approval; moreover, it is actually possible to keep such document updated, which is often for more complex plans due to lack of funds. The second tool is the Municipal Contract. It is signed between the State and the municipality, and it sets out clearly the commitments of each party. As I mentioned earlier, part of the difficulties in project implementation derive from a lack of efficient mediation between local and central governments. I believe that setting out a clear system of rules and obligations would be a first step into clarifying the relationship between city and state. So here they are, briefly summarised, the main chapters of the book and the topics and points that I found most interesting: the priorities in urban planning in Africa, the need of providing basic services; the areas for priority investments, Agetips and the opportunities brought by involving the local communities; the need to balance between local and central administration, the financial problems; some interesting tools to implement urban policies. Generally speaking, I found the book to be very well organised. I especially appreciated the choice to give an historical background to the reader, although I would have valued a little more reflection on the cultural aspects of the different African countries, and how the complex cultural history of this country balances with a need of “making cities”. I have only just made contact with African cities and planning issues, but I have checked the report The State of African Cities by UN-Habitat (2014) and I would strongly recommend it for more updated information, as the book I reviewed is from 1998.