The State of Urban Agendas in Norwegian Development Research and Policy

Abstract

The article explores the geographies of knowledge production about urban Africa in the Norwegian context. Norwegian development debates have responded slowly and reluctantly to urban transformations in Africa. However, there seems to be an emerging focus on African cities both in research and in policy circles. This agenda has much to gain from a growing international literature that challenges existing approaches to African cities. These scholars argue that research and development policy debate continues to represent African cities as dysfunctional exceptionalisms from Western urban experiences or as places where complex urban dynamics of inclusion and exclusion can be solved by policy interventions. Thus, the urban agenda must move beyond what has been labelled the ‘shackles of developmentalism’. The article identifies similar divides in knowledge production in the Norwegian context and critically assesses the state of urban agendas in Norwegian development policies. I argue that policies and debates tend to reproduce similar representations about urbanism, or the lack thereof, to the ones identified in the critical international literature on urban development issues. These representations must be challenged and reworked in order for us to grasp the complexities of African cities and to start developing appropriate political responses.