Scaling of the morphology of African cities.

ABSTRACT: A large proportion of Africa's infrastructure is yet to be built. Where and how these new buildings are constructed matters since today's decisions will last for decades. The resulting morphology of cities has lasting implications for a city's energy needs. Estimating and projecting these needs has always been challenging in Africa due to the lack of data. Yet, given the sweeping urbanization expected in Africa over the next three decades, this obstacle must be overcome to guide cities toward a trajectory of sustainability and resilience. Based on the location and surface of nearly 200 million buildings on the continent, we estimate the interbuilding distance of almost six thousand cities. Buildings' footprint data enable the construction of urban form indicators to compare African cities'

SUBMITTER: Prieto-Curiel R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9992857 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature