An Anatomy of Urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa

Pierre-Philippe Combes (), Clément Gorin, Shohei Nakamura () and Mark Roberts ()
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Pierre-Philippe Combes: ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research
Clément Gorin: CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Shohei Nakamura: WBG = GBM - World Bank Group = Groupe Banque Mondiale
Mark Roberts: WBG = GBM - World Bank Group = Groupe Banque Mondiale

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Abstract: This paper analyzes urbanization patterns across Sub-Saharan Africa circa 2015 using a dartboard algorithm and high-resolution gridded population data to delineate urban areas and urban cores, cities and their population centers, and towns. Key empirical regularities are presented regarding urban hierarchies and internal city structures. Urbanization rates often exceed official ones and vary considerably across countries from 29.4 % in Gabon to 78.1 % in Kenya. Within countries, delineated areas show great size diversity following Zipf's law, without much urban primacy. Cities' land area increases slightly less proportionally to their population. Monocentric population patterns with declining population density toward peripheries largely dominate, though some large multicentric extended, not necessarily capital, cities exist.

Keywords: urbanization Sub-saharan africa Dartboard approach Satellite imagery Population density,Urbanization; Sub-Saharan Africa; Dartboard Approach; Satellite Imagery; Population Density (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-11
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-05446319v1
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Published in Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2025, Regional Science and Urban Economics, 115, pp.104152. ⟨10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2025.104152⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05446319

DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2025.104152

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