To find out why African countries' experience with urbanization and sustained growth appeared to differ from that of … other countries, the authors investigated the determinants of urbanization across countries over 40 years. Rather than … opportunities. If location incentives are distorted, so is growth. The authors find that urbanization levels are closely correlated …

Many cities in developing economies, particularly in Africa, are experiencing urbanization without industrialization …

continuous urbanization accompanied by a gradual phasing-in of urban land property rights over time. Today, however, the evidence … in many fast urbanizing low-income countries points towards a different trend of “urbanization without formalization … dynamics of land property rights and urbanization. The calibrated baseline model describes a city that first grows informally …

Urbanization deserves urgent attention from policy makers, academics, entrepreneurs, and social reformers of all … stripes. Nothing else will create as many opportunities for social and economic progress. The urbanization project began …