Ambrose  A.

  Adebayo        A  Tale  of  Two  African  Cities:  Hyper  Growth,  Sprawl  and  Compact  City 
Development: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City   48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 

A Tale of Two African Cities: Hyper Growth,

Sprawl and Compact City Development
Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City

Ambrose A. Adebayo, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa

1. Introduction

This paper focuses on a critical comparative analysis of efforts to create sustainable urban
present and future cities in the face of hyper-urban growth and compact city policy
intervention based on Nairobi and Durban, both cities in Sub-Saharan countries of Kenya
and South Africa respectively. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the regions in the world
experiencing hyper-premature urbanisation trends and the affiliated policy challenges and
problems. The UN-HABITAT (2006) notes that the urban growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa
is almost 5 percent twice as high as in Latin America and Asia. Associated with this trend the
UN-HABITAT also highlights, it has the world’s largest proportion of urban population living in
slums. Therefore, focusing on Nairobi, Kenya and Durban, South Africa presents an
opportunity for analysing urban policy intervention for sustainable future cities for a region
facing various urban challenges in terms of different policies and socio-cultural practices.

In as much as Nairobi and Durban face more or less similar socio-economic urban
development challenges, they are characterised by different policy responses and
environmental challenges. Nairobi faces challenges of air pollution, waste collection and
disposal, water pollution, noise pollution and development of slums/informal settlements (UN-
HABITAT, 2006 and 2007; Chege, 2010; Mutisya and Yarime, 2011; and Mitullah, 2003).
Furthermore, the city of Nairobi is haunted by the colonial legacy of socio-economic and
spatial segregation along racial lines which has from the end of colonialism in 1963 mutated
to spatial segregation along class lines. According to Nabutola (2010) by 1948 Nairobi was
planned in ways that segregated its population strictly along racial lines, a trend which in
present day has since been superseded by economic status segregation evident in spatial
differentiation. On the other hand, the city of Durban which is under jurisdiction of EThekwini
Metropolitan Municipality faces more or similar urban development challenges as it is still
haunted by the legacy of apartheid planning which spatially and socio-economically
fragmented and marginalised communities along racial lines. During the height of apartheid
which came to an end in South Africa in 1994 the city of Durban was composed of three
types of areas namely urban African townships with limited socio-economic opportunities
where 75% of Africans lived and core and sub-urban areas well supported with socio-
economic opportunities where Indians or White racial groups exclusively lived (Schensul,
2008). However, since the dawn of democracy in South Africa in 1994, regardless of positive
policy intentions of the Reconstruction and Development Programmes (RDP) and Breaking
New Ground (BNG) housing policy to reverse this negative spatial imprint the majority of the
population of the city of Durban, Black African racial group is still living in areas with limited
socio-economic opportunity such as peripheral former apartheid townships and informal
settlements due to dysfunctional and inefficient urban land markets among other reasons.

However, there are key differentiating physical and climatic characteristics between Nairobi
and Durban. Nairobi is an equatorial city which lies at the altitude of 1, 670 metres, latitude
36 degrees 50’ east and longitude 1 degree 17’ south about 140 kilometres south of the
equator (Olima, 2001: 2). Durban on the other hand is a sub-tropical coastal city on the
Indian Ocean east coast, within the province of KwaZulu Natal and is a major port city within
the province of South Africa.

In terms of urban development policy, Nairobi has since the dawn of Kenyan independence
1

 
Ambrose  A.  Adebayo        A  Tale  of  Two  African  Cities:  Hyper  Growth,  Sprawl  and  Compact  City 
Development: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City   48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 

in 1963 been characterised by disjointed and fragmented policy approach to urban

challenges and problems. According to Nabutola (2012) urban development in Kenya has
largely been taking place without a comprehensive national urban development framework
which led to problems of segregated conceptions of urban development, economic growth
and urban rural development. In the case of Nairobi specifically, the UN-HABITAT (2006)
noted that the latest master plan for Nairobi was developed in 1973 and although the
Physical Planning Act of 1996 shoulders planning responsibility on local authorities,
economic and physical planning is not integrated with land use and land taxation as the city
lacks a clear vision to guide its development. It is only recently that the city developed vision
2020/2030. On the other hand, although the city of Durban has been characterised by socio-
economic spatial segregation during the apartheid era as city planning was by and large
under two racial local authorities namely Black and White, since the end of apartheid in 1994
focus has been on Integrated Development Planning (IDP) as a way of promoting
sustainable city development. Therefore, a critical comparative analysis of Nairobi and
Durban presents an opportunity to learn from similar urban development challenges and
different policy environments and responses. The paper conceptualises concepts of
urbanisation, urban growth, sprawl and compact city intervention before presenting a
comparative chronological analysis of urban growth and policy intervention for sustainable
urban futures in Nairobi and Durban.

2. Urbanisation, Urban Growth and Sustainable Cities

The primary basis for aggregating population globally is the rural urban divide. The
importance in the distinction between rural and urban settlements lies in rapid rates of growth
of urban population, rising share of urban population in total population, growth of large
metropolises and urban primacy, problems of providing minimal urban infrastructure, issues
in rural-urban labour transfer and employment and the linkages between urbanization and
regional development issues (Jones and Visaria, 1997: 2).
Definitions of urban and rural areas are based on demographic, economic and sociological
criteria (Tacoli, 2003). Rural settlements are attributed to a low population density, loose
networks of infrastructure and services, tight networks of personal contacts and a strong
identity with home localities, below average manufacturing and office-based employment;
and a landscape dominated by farmland and forestry (Clout, 1984: 7; cited in Hoggart, 1988).
On the other hand urban settlements are characterized by spatially intensive industries and
occupations (Cater, 1990). Instead of being spread widely and thinly across the surface of
the habitable earth, a population that is urban is one in which vast numbers of people are
clustered together in very small areas (Clark, 1998). This relatively high dense area in some
instances face many problems in terms of infrastructural services provision and also
unhygienic environments.

Cheng (2003) argues that there is need to understand urban development in terms of
physical expansion and functional changes. Physical expansion of urban development
entails the increase in the size of the built up areas whilst functional aspects focus on
activities associated with urban areas such as commercial and manufacturing. Urbanisation
and urban growth is central in that cities are the centres of economic activity and growth
whilst on the other hand they pose an array of environmental challenges (Jenks et al, 1996).
As such focus has been on the role of cities in promoting sustainable development. With
such large proportion of the world population, the concentration of environmental problems,
and consumption of resources, cities clearly appear to be the most important location for
action to help the goals of sustainable development (Jenks et al, 1996: 4).

The concept of sustainable development emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth century
Europe when foresters realised that they needed to plant enough trees to ensure that the

 
Ambrose  A.  Adebayo        A  Tale  of  Two  African  Cities:  Hyper  Growth,  Sprawl  and  Compact  City 
Development: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City   48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 

wood fibre lost to harvesting was replaced (Davoudi and Layard, 2001). Since then
sustainable development has attracted a lot of popular support worldwide (Barton et al,
1995). Stupar (2008) points to milestone summits, declarations, promises and agreements
about sustainable development - from the ‘United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment’ (Stockholm, 1972), the Bruntland Commission (1987), the Rio summit (1992),
Rio + 5 (New York, 1997) to Rio + 10 (Johannesburg, 2002) and Kyoto (1997, 2005). She
argues that these are still far from in-depth implementation, trying to bridge the gap between
political statements and terrestrial reality. However, their significance lies in the symbolical
message transmitted all around the world, although its original meaning is altered- according
to local conditions and (un) predictable political and financial winds (ibid). Therefore, as
Stupar (2008) notes, sustainability remains a trendy term incorporated into the blurred
local/global strategies while, ironically, the ambiguity of the globalisation process still
represents the only truly sustainable category.

One of the main results of the 1992 Earth Summit was Agenda 21, a comprehensive
programme of action throughout the world to achieve a more sustainable pattern of
development (Phillips, 2003). Agenda 21 dedicates a complete chapter (Chapter 7) to the
need to develop Sustainable Human Settlements (SHS) (Phillips, 2003). Agenda 21 points
out that type and patterns of human settlements determine the amount of resources that are
required for the livelihood and well-being of their residents (ibid). This clearly shows that the
investigation of hyper growth, sprawl and compact city development for promoting
sustainable future cities is imperative for improving the livelihoods of the people of Durban
and Nairobi and also other developing world cities at large. Phillips (2003) notes that two
main components of SHS highlighted are adequate shelter for all – as a human right and
sustainable human settlement development described as economically buoyant, socially
vibrant and environmentally sound.

In both the developed and the developing world there has been focus on the role of urban
form in the creation of sustainable human settlements. Although challenges facing cities in
the developed and developing countries are somewhat different there is unanimity in that city
morphology and spatial structure plays a central role in promoting their sustainability.
According to Jenks et al (1996) as much as cities in the developed countries are mature,
relatively affluent and facing problems of population stagnation and decline, their excessive
consumption of energy pose a huge environmental threat. On the other hand in the
developing countries cities face challenges related to rapid urbanisation and growth such as
peripheral location of squatter settlements and local income housing. The outermost ring of
cities in the developing countries is comprised of squatter settlements housing mostly recent
migrants to the city. The African city consists concentric zones of residences of decreasing
quality from the CBD outwards housing the middle class. On the outskirts of the city there are
also informal settlements housing new migrants to the city. However it should be noted that
the footprint of spatial segregation by race left by colonisation is also eminent in African
cities. They were clearly marked by racial and occupational divisions with the Europeans
occupying sub-urban neighborhoods close to the CBD in contrast to Africans who were
located in peripheral segregated neighbourhoods (Kaplan et al, 2004). The trend still exists
today as city form is still characterised by urban sprawl and fragmentation.

It is in this context that compact city form has been punted as the main way of promoting
sustainable human settlements in both the developed and the developing world. The concept
is to an extent premised on urban containment, to provide a concentration of socially
sustained mixed uses that will concentrate development and reduce the need to travel, thus
reducing vehicle emissions (Jenks et al, 1996: 5). As such the compact city concept is
premised on environmental sustainability (reducing the carbon footprint) and socio-economic
sustainability (providing of social and economic facilities in close proximity).

 
Ambrose  A.  Adebayo        A  Tale  of  Two  African  Cities:  Hyper  Growth,  Sprawl  and  Compact  City 
Development: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City   48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 

3. Evolution of Urban Growth in Nairobi and Durban: A Comparative Analysis of

Policies to Promote Sustainable Urban Future

The history of urban growth in Nairobi and Durban is by and large similar as both cities’
history is shaped by colonial settler administrative and economic activity. Nairobi city was
found towards the end of the 19th century as an administrative point for British colonial
settlers who were building a railway line to link Uganda and Mombasa on the Indian Ocean
coast of Kenya for purposes of natural resource extraction (Anyamba, 2005). The moving of
the railway headquarters from Mombasa to Nairobi by its chief engineer, Sir George
Whitehouse resulted in the subsequent growth of Nairobi as a commercial and business hub
of the then British East African protectorate (Stuma, 1992: 1627; cited in Olima, 2001).
Olima, highlights that, by 1900 Nairobi had assumed the function of Kenya’s capital city
though this was officially conferred in 1907.

On the other hand, the City of Durban in South Africa is the first European settlement in
KwaZulu Natal province that was established in 1824 by British settlers who were attracted
by trading opportunities with the interior (Kuper et al, 1958: 51). Urban growth in the city of
Durban was stimulated by the British settlers who after their occupation established a fort
north of the settlement in 1842 which eventually developed into a 1, 200 yard square of
ordinance land, squared to a grid iron street pattern at the market square (Davies, 1963: 23).
According to Davies (ibid), with the opening of the Point railway in 1860 and the Umgeni
railway in 1867 on the Southern and western sides of the square the area subsequently
developed a central railway station, marshalling yards and an industrial area in the process
blocking the future expansion of the central grid to the north-east.

In both cities the physical character of urban growth was influenced by colonial settler racial
attitudes of socio-economic fragmentation and segregation along racial lines. During the
colonial period of Kenya which spans loosely from 1900 to until the dawn democracy in 1963
Nairobi developed on the basis of racial segregation. From its earliest times, emerging
spatial patterns in Nairobi developed on the basis of segregation between the Central
Business District (CBD) and European, Asian and African residential areas (Mitullah, 2003:
2). By 1900 Nairobi had already become a large and flourishing place with the settlement
consisting mainly of railway buildings and separate areas for Europeans and the later being
mainly of labourers employed on the construction of the railway line (Olima, 2001: 2).
According to Mitullah (2003: 3) Africans who formed a major part of population by 1963 lived
in the eastern parts, while Europeans and Asians lived in the western suburbs with better
services. At this juncture it is also important to note that informal settlements in Nairobi can
be traced to the early colonial period as the alienation of Africans from their land and their
concomitant migration to the city where they received meagre earnings from capitalist
enterprises forced them to live in informal settlements at the urban periphery and around also
around wealth residential neighbourhoods where they worked as domestic labourers (0lima,
2001). Nevertheless constant demolitions and restrictions on African rural-urban migration
kept them at their minimum (ibid). Figure 1 below adopted from Mitullah (2003) shows the
radial extension of Nairobi between 1900 and 1963.

 
Ambrose  A.  Adebayo        A  Tale  of  Two  African  Cities:  Hyper  Growth,  Sprawl  and  Compact  City 
Development: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City   48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 

Central
Province

Eastern Province

A 1900

B 1920 
Rift Valley Province 
C 1927

D 1963 

Roads

Figure 1: Nairobi boundary changes 1906 t0 1963

Source: Obudho, R.A and G.O. Aduwo (1992:53; cited in Mitullah, 2003)

From Figure 1 above Mitullah notes that by 1909 much of the internal structure especially
the road network was developed and in 1927 the boundary of Nairobi was extended to
cover 30 square miles (77 km2) as a result of the rapid growth of the centre both in terms of
population and in terms of infrastructure. In 1963 the boundary of Nairobi was extended to
cover an area approximately 266 square miles (686 km2) and from there on the boundaries
have never been changed. This also corroborated in Table 1 below showing the population
of Nairobi between 1906 and 1999 and the area in hectares.

YEAR AREA POPULATION % INCREASE IN DENSITY (persons per

(hectares) POPULATION hectare)
1906 1,813 11,512 159.4 6.3
1928 2,537 29,864 60.0 11.8
1931 2,537 47,919 3.5 18.9
1936 2,537 49,600 119.6 19.6
1944 2,537 108,900 9.3 42.9
1948 8,315 118,976 188.1 14.3
1963 68,945 342,764 48.6 5.0
1969 68,945 509,286 48.6 7.4
1979 68,945 827,755 62.5 12.0
1989 68,945 1,324,570 60.0 19.2
1999 68,945 2.143,254 60.8 31.1
2010 68,945 3,750,000 75.0 54.4
2020 68,945 5,592,000 49.1 81.1

Table 1: Population of Nairobi Between 1906 and 1999

Source: Situma (1992 cited in Dianga, 2011)
5

 
Ambrose  A.  Adebayo        A  Tale  of  Two  African  Cities:  Hyper  Growth,  Sprawl  and  Compact  City 
Development: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City   48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 

During the colonial era in South Africa which spans loosely from around 1652 when the first
colonial settlers arrived up to 1948 when apartheid was introduced urban growth as in Kenya
reflected colonial segregationist policies. Urban growth and urbanization trends during this
period were influenced by administrative boundaries created in order to restrict the
movement and distribution of Black population in the Union of South Africa as a way of
protecting white labour interests. According to Dewar (2000), during the apartheid era racial
groups other than white were systematically removed beyond the edges of settlements, in
the worst cases to distances of over 60km away and since there is a direct correlation
between race and income, the poorest people have been located furthest from
agglomerations or urban opportunities. Apartheid spatial policies also saw spontaneous
settlements grow on the metro-fringes and homelands and in cities townships were
characterized by overcrowded houses and shack populations in the back yards and on open
spaces in and around formal townships (ibid). On the other hand areas designated for whites
were adequately serviced and characterized by low densities (McCarthy, 1991). Kuper et al
(1958: 23) note that as a result of the Group Areas Act Durban was planned for total
residential segregation, or complete avoidance of contact, as neighbors, between people of
different race based on a Technical Sub-Committee of the City Council which was appointed
on the 20th of November 1950 which proposed a pattern of development based on the
segregated residential ribs or spokes, extending, in the shape of a fan from the industrial and
central business district. Since, the population of Durban was partially mixed by the end of
the beginning of 1950, implementation of these plans entailed movement of population.
According to Davies and McCarthy (1984: 34) in the city of Durban for example almost half of
the population was forced to relocate in order to accommodate the provisions of the Group
Areas Act.

After the fall of colonialism in Kenya and South Africa, both Nairobi and Durban experienced
tremendous rates of urban growth. According to Nabutola (2012: 2) when Kenya got
independent from Britain in 1963, 8% of its population lived in urban areas as the Vagrancy
Act and the Pass Laws restricted the migration of the bulk mainly rural African population
from flocking to the cities. Currently 34% of the population live in cities and by 2030 58% of
the population is projected to live in urban areas (Nabutola, 2012). Regardless of this
tremendous rate of urbanisation since the birth of the Kenyan independence, there has not
been any comprehensive policy to manage urbanisation and urban growth. Previously the
policies that governed urban development the Local Government Act CAP265 (now
repealed) and the Physical Planning Act of 1996 were inept in managing urban growth as
they failed to integrate economic growth, development and urban and rural dynamics of
urban growth (Nabutola, 2012). As such there was a process of drafting a National Urban
Development Policy (NUDP) as a way of promoting integrated sustainable urban
development.

In the case of Nairobi, the UN-HABITAT (2006) noted that the latest master plan for the city
was developed in 1973 and had since been out-paced by the impact of urban growth. Thus
the city lacked a common vision in terms of economic development and land use taxation
(ibid). It is in this context of post-colonial Nairobi that class has replaced colonial racial
attitudes in residential and spatial segregation of the city. According to Olima (2001; see also
Anyumba, 2005) after the Kenyan independence in Nairobi, the white racial group mostly
high income remained in their exclusive former colonial neighbourhoods where they were
joined by a few high income educated and business black African people. The Asian racial
group remained in their colonial middle income exclusive neighbourhoods where they were
joined by middle income blacks. The low income population group, mostly Black Africans
were confined mostly in informal settlements. According to the UN-HABITAT (2006) Nairobi
informal settlements cover only 5% of the total residential land area of the city but they are
inhabited by at least half of the city’s population. There have been cases of both planned
formal developments and spontaneous developments privately developed informal

 
Ambrose  A.  Adebayo        A  Tale  of  Two  African  Cities:  Hyper  Growth,  Sprawl  and  Compact  City 
Development: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City   48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 

settlements (Olima, 2001). In some cases these are low rise dense informal settlements as in
the case of Kibera (Figure: 2) densities where densities are as high as 2000 people per
hectare which makes it the most densely populated informal settlement in Sub-Saharan
Africa (ibid).

Figure 2: Kibera low rise dense informal settlement

Source: UN-HABITAT (2006)

A typical informal high rise dense settlement is Zimmerman neighbourhood which is located
on the urban of periphery of Nairobi. It is characterised by congestion and a lack of adequate
supporting infrastructure support mechanisms and a lack of good quality environment (Figure
3). This neighbourhood also has characteristics of crowded slums both in function and quality
of the built environment.

Figure 3: Zimmerman high rise dense informal rental neighbourhood in Nairobi Kenya

In Nairobi, there are also inner city formal neighbourhood areas where formal low rise single
family houses have been converted to high-rise apartments (Figures 4 and 5). This is
evidence of low rise land use conversion to high rise dense mixed use developments that are
not accompanied by infrastructure services such as sewer, water and energy. Due to this
densification and population growth, traffic congestion in Nairobi has become untenable
(Figure 6). Given this problem Nairobi has embarked on new infrastructure development
focusing on the construction of new roads and bridges.

 
Ambrose  A.  Adebayo        A  Tale  of  Two  African  Cities:  Hyper  Growth,  Sprawl  and  Compact  City 
Development: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City   48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 

Figure 4 Low rise inner city Figure 5: Converted low rise city neighbourhood to
high rise development neighbourhood

Figure 6: Congestion as a result of urban growth and densification in Nairobi

In the South African context and the city of Durban in particular the negative effects of the
apartheid segregationist built city form was increasingly felt with the dawn of democracy in
1994 as the previous oppressed Africans migrated to urban areas in huge numbers. South
African cities were faced with serious socio-economic and environmental problems as the
cities could not cope with the new socio-economic and environmental realities posed by rapid
urbanisation. The Republic of South Africa Urban Development Strategy (1996) notes that
with rapid urbanization into South African cities during the late apartheid era the built-in
spatial and functional inefficiencies increased the costs of building, operating, and
maintaining the apartheid city's infrastructural systems and providing services to its residents.
These challenges were occurring in context where the built environment was also supposed
to respond to the increasing diversity and heterogeneity of the post-colonial South African
city. Furthermore, in the context of globalization where sustainable development is the most
popular hymn and a clearly visible challenge as manifested by climate change around the
globe cites in South Africa also had to respond to this challenge spatially. This meant that the
South African government in the context of global concerns about sustainable development
and climate change faced the challenge of providing mass housing which responded to the
local social, environmental and economic context.

In the light of the aforementioned problems in South African cities, the post-1994 South
African government adopted drastic legislative and policy measures with the aim of creating
a built form that promotes socio-economic and environmental integrity through the creation of
mixed-use compact urban developments. This is unlike in Kenya were since the dawn of
democracy in 1990 there has been piecemeal and uncoordinated urban development
policies. Eminent pieces legislation and polices include the Development Facilitation Act
(DFA), Housing Act of 1997, the Breaking New Ground Housing Policy (BNG) of 1997,
National Environmental Act (NEMA) of 1998 and the amendment of the Income Tax Act No.
8

 
Ambrose  A.  Adebayo        A  Tale  of  Two  African  Cities:  Hyper  Growth,  Sprawl  and  Compact  City 
Development: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City   48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 

58 of 1962 in 2003 and the Urban Renewal Tax incentive of 2004. The aim of the
Development Facilitation Act (DFA) is to facilitate and quicken the implementation and
reconstruction development programmes in the face of spatial imbalances and rapid
urbanization in post-colonial South Africa. The objective of the BNG is the creation of
versatile built forms that do not only cater for present human needs, but also respond to
anticipated future changes in socio-economic conditions. NEMA seeks to promote social,
economic and environmental rights of previously disadvantaged communities. It strives to
achieve this through the prevention of pollution and ecological degradation, promotion of
conservation and ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while
promoting justifiable economic and social development. The amendment of the Income Tax
Act No. 58 of 1962 in 2003 paved the way for tax breaks and tax incentives of for the
redevelopment of the degenerated inner city areas in South African cities. Furthermore, from
2000 the Municipal Systems Act compelled all developments in South African municipalities
to be guided by Integrated Development Plans which are a local version of Agenda 21 whose
aim is the creation of sustainable human settlements.

The objectives of these legislations in the city of Durban have been translated into the
narrative of compact city development which is physically given effect by the Municipality’s
Spatial Development Framework (SDF) which is a tool in the IDP meant to spatially guide all
developments in the Municipality in line with the municipality’s objetctives. The SDF of
Ethekwini Municpality’s IDP is shown on Figure 7. One notes that the main structuring
elements of the Municipality’s SDF are urban edge; environmental assets; and investment
networks made up of investment corridors and investment nodes.

Figure 7: Spatial Development Concept of Ethekwini Municipality

Source: Ethekwini Municipality Integrated Development Plan (2012)

The main urban growth patterns that have taken place in the city of Durban in line with the
Municipality of EThekwini’s IDPs include inner city neighbourhood revitalisation programmes
(Point Water Front), new low Income incremental housing projects as per national housing
policy (Cato Manor and Cato Crest informal Settlements) and uMhlanga suburban middle to
high income mixed use node.

Cato Manor is located within the western urban core area of Durban where Black Africans
the original occupants of the area were forcibly moved during the 1950s when the Group

 
Ambrose  A.  Adebayo        A  Tale  of  Two  African  Cities:  Hyper  Growth,  Sprawl  and  Compact  City 
Development: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City   48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 

Areas Act was implemented consequently designating the area for whites. With the dawn of
a new era in South African politics in 1994, the reconstruction of and redevelopment of Cato
Manor focused on the provision of incremental housing (Figure 8) in the area for mostly low
income Black Africans. Cato Crest is a low-rise informal settlement located next Cato Manor
incremental housing projects despite constant upgrading attempts (Figure 9).

Figure 8: Incremental Housing in Cato Manor

Figure 9: Informal settlements within the urban core area of Cato Manor

The growth of Durban is not restricted to informal settlements only, but in the formal strategic
inner city area such the Point Waterfront. The objective of the redevelopment of the Durban
Point Waterfront was encouraging the development of mixed, vibrant residential
neighbourhoods with supporting social, medical and retail amenities (Figure 10). The Point
area is one of the city of Durban’s oldest settlements, with significant historical value in the
development of Durban as the first European settlers to settle permanently in Durban in the
19th century erected their first township in the Point area in 1837.

  
Figure 10: Point Waterfront complete and incomplete Inner City Revitalisation Built Environment

The uMhlanga area is located in ward 35 of Ethekwini Municipality north of the Durban city
centre. The uMhlanga area was developed by Moreland, a private property development
company with the objective of building a multi-dimensional sustainable human community
10

 
Ambrose  A.  Adebayo        A  Tale  of  Two  African  Cities:  Hyper  Growth,  Sprawl  and  Compact  City 
Development: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Future City   48th ISOCARP Congress 2012 

within a harmonious and balanced built environment comprising of mixed-use retail, offices,
residential and the Marriott Hotel as the international group’s first foray into Africa (Deighton,
2010). Below (Figure 11) are the developments in city of Durban given effect by the compact
city legislations and intentions.

Figure 11: uMhlanga suburban middle-high income residential environment

4. Conclusion

In the above discussion and analysis of urban growth in the cities of Durban and Nairobi it is
very clear that there has been hyper-physical growth which is accompanied by many
physical challenges and opportunities. The growth of the city of Nairobi has been without
future forward planning for services and as such existing infrastructure has been
overburdened by the hyper growth of the city in both formal and informal directions. If urban
growth is to be sustainable, it must be accompanied by adequate infrastructure support
services and development control that is effective. In the process of urbanisation and urban
growth both cities were able to promote their unique assets through strengthening their
competitive positions as capital and port-cities (Nairobi and Durban respectively). Policy
interventions meant to guide development present mixed results in terms of success and
failure. The concept of compact city development must be properly guided if it is to promote
future sustainable cities. Often it is the poor communities faced with many developmental
challenges that exacerbate the problem of unsustainable urban form.

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