Singer Akon has said he’s building a new city in Uganda, to add to the one he’s already planning in his home country of Senegal. His plans include gravity-defying skyscrapers, luxury apartments and places for study, work and leisure – all within a short walk of each other. The city will even have its own cryptocurrency – “Akoin”. It’s a far cry from the problems that blight many African cities: poor housing, water shortages and electricity blackouts. These futuristic cities are cropping up across the continent, but some experts wonder if they really are the utopia they seem. Sakhile Mngadi, a city councillor for Durban and an architect, says many of the futuristic cities “aren’t really speaking to the context that they live in”.
SOURCE: BBC
More Stories
Joshua Baraka is Ugandan Music’s Next Big Thing
Design for Human Rights
A Landmark Exhibition Celebrating the Global Impact of Modern and Contemporary African Fashions
Seven Striking Images by Africa’s New Creative Wave
Broken Chord, Sadler’s Wells Review – Sublime Music for the Tale of a South African Choir
Kinshasa’s Street Artists Raise Issues about Globalisation and Economic Plunder
Africa’s Leading Tourist Attraction 2023 Nominees
Lagosians will Proudly Tell You there’s No Party like a Lagos Party
If You Are Looking to Set Up an Office Remotely, South Africa has It All
Luxury Places to Stay in Zanzibar for a Memorable Vacation on the Island
Accelerating and Scaling Priority Infrastructure Development in Africa
Case Studies: Strategising for a New Era of African Trade