Urban centres in southern Africa (the 15 SADC countries in this case – Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, the Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe), are under pressure from many fronts, foremost of which is rapid population growth.
In general, the more urbanized a nation is, the wealthier it tends to be (UN-Habitat, 2010). Cities usually represent the highest proportion of a nation’s wealth. They create the conditions for wealth formation and provide economies of scale, and proximities of transactions make cities far more efficient than rural areas.
RECOMMENDED CITATION Chapman, R.A. & Sasman, N. 2012. Cities and climate change: urban vulnerability and resilience in southern Africa. For the Regional Climate Change Programme for Southern Africa (RCCP), UK Department for International Development (DFID). Cape Town: OneWorld Sustainable Investments.
