New African Cities Project

This collaborative initiative – involving partners in Mozambique, Kenya, Congo, France, and the United States – explores how human mobility is transforming African cities. Drawing on insights from urban sociology, human geography, and political science, it seeks to document:

• The nature of the factors that structure migrants’ journeys from source country to capital city;
• The nature of urban migrants’ linkages with their countries and communities of origin, and how these ties affect their livelihoods and attitudes towards place; and
• How contact between foreign migrants and the local population affect group loyalties and political affiliations.

Through these inquiries, participants also generate policy-relevant information on urban governance and redevelopment, property markets, livelihoods, and human security.

In late 2006, the initiative conducted surveys of international and domestic migrants and long-term urban residents in Johannesburg, Maputo, Lubumbashi, and Nairobi. Analysis of the collected statistical data will include secondary qualitative and comparative studies in these regional centres of transit and trade, working with students and institutional partners.