consequences, a conference has heard. With more than half of Africa's 800 million people predicted to live in metropolitan areas by 2020, local authorities were facing severe strains in providing housing, services and security, experts said. And, with the influx of largely impoverished rural people to cities continuing unabated, the number of African slum dwellers - already estimated at 72 percent of urban residents - would rise exponentially, they said.
of Nairobi, itself one of the metropolises endangered by rapid and unchecked of this dramatic shift in the needs and demands of the century," said Anna Tibaijuka, executive director of Nairobi-based United Nations housing agency The week-long meeting gathers some 4,000 delegates from the African Union's 53 members and Europe to discuss best city management practices and plot a way forward to deal with the challenges posed by population growth. Opening the meeting, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki urged participants the residents," he said. "In most countries, the growth of urban populations is taking place at a much faster rate than the local governments can cope with, in terms of service provision and infrastructure," Kibaki said.
could be changed for the better. "The people of Africa look up to all of us for answers to many of the problems facing urban residents. Let us work together to improve the quality of life of our urban communities," he added.
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