AUL Launches University Coalition on Curricula for Cities

Universities Across East Africa Join Forces to Redesign Urban Planning Education for a Rapidly Urbanizing Continent

 

A new coalition of East African universities is launching a new initiative to contextualize and update urban planning education and better prepare the next generation of urban leaders.

Led by the Africa Urban Lab (AUL), the University Coalition on Curricula for Cities (UCCC) brings together Ardhi University, the Urban Action Lab at Makerere University, and Kenyatta university. to co-create a cutting-edge, Africa-focused urban planning curriculum for the 21st century.

With Africa’s cities growing at an average annual rate of 3.5% per year–more than double the global average–urban planners are urgently needed to help transform rapid urbanization into widespread economic prosperity. Yet most university programs remain outdated, shaped by mid-20th century Eurocentric models that fail to reflect the realities of today’s African cities and incorporate modern digital tools.

As many universities in East Africa move to revise and strengthen their urban planning programs, the UCCC is well positioned to help catalyze evidence-based reform and lay the foundations for similar upgrading efforts across Africa. Over 18 months, the initiative will:

• Audit existing urban planning curricula across East Africa
• Identify critical content and skills gaps, especially in informality, data science, urban economics, municipal finance, and urban governance
• Co-design a modular African Urban Planning Curriculum Framework
• Pilot new models at three partner universities
• Train faculty and host regional knowledge-sharing workshops

“We’re incredibly excited to begin this work. The AUL and our university partners share a strong belief that urban planning education must evolve to meet the needs of modern African cities,” Heba Elhanafy, AUL’s Chief of Staff said in a statement. “I’m especially proud that this effort is being led by African institutions, who are closest to the challenges and best positioned to lead lasting change.”

The initiative expects to reach over 2,000 students with updated curricula, train 60 faculty in modern urban pedagogies, and encourage adoption of the new framework by at least 10 additional African universities within three years. A new partnership between the UCCC and the World Bank Institute for Economic Development will contribute to identification of existing gaps, aim to strengthen the urban economics components of the new curriculums, and bring lessons from behavioral economics to inform effective design of learning programs.

The UCCC was announced on Friday, June 13, 2025, at the Academic Conference on Urban Governance for African Cities–an event hosted by the AUL alongside the New Cities Summit in Nairobi. Speakers and attendees at the event include: Kurtis Lockhart, Director & Founder of the AUL; Dr. Deodatus Shayo, Professor at Ardhi University; Dr. Frederick Magina, Professor at Ardhi University; Hakimu Sseviiri, Assistant Professor at Makerere University; and Dr. Jackson Kago, Professor at Kenyatta University.

Press release posted on the AUL news site.