Structural adjustment and the contemporary sub-Saharan African city

Although it has been suggested that structural adjustment policies have slo wed Third World urban growth and have stimulated a spatial deconcentration of economic activity, this paper argues that African cities continue to gro w and mainly through peri-urban development. This investment comes mainly f rom domestic sources and migrants' remittances, and tends to he in consumpt ion rather than production. Reasons include cultural factors lack of confid ence in the national economy and in the state's long-term economic objectiv es, an increasing demand for housing, improvements in intraurban transport, and a desire to spread investment risk among a range of alternatives inclu ding housing.