In the Press

The African Formula

A mix of functions, low density, lively open spaces and environmental sustainability. Four new towns under construction in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana propose “small size” as a useful planning formula to cope with the population explosion under way. We talk about it with the architects Dan Ringelstein and Gareth Edwards of SOM, the practice responsible for their master plans.

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Today’s reality is one of rapid expansion from the viewpoint of both demography (by 2050 Africa’s population will have grown by 1.3 billion) and land management. We talked about this with two influential urban planners based in London, Dan Ringelstein and Gareth Edwards of SOM, the multinational architectural, urban planning and engineering firm that in Africa is building four new towns with less than 150,000 inhabitants in collaboration with Rendeavour, the biggest private developer on the continent (funded by capital from the USA, Norway, the UK and New Zealand).