The African "smart city"?

In an interview with Agence Ecofin in December 2020, Jérôme Chenal, urban planning specialist and MER at EPFL, answers questions about the smart or ideal city projects that have been flourishing on the African continent for the past ten years. From Kenya to Nigeria to Burkina Faso, the promise is to make African cities more livable and to provide cutting-edge technologies that can enable the digital transition.

"Today, the smart city is all the rage. It's like in some parts of the world where every city wanted to put in a tramway, now every country wants a smart city," explains Jérôme Chenal, who believes that we need to go beyond the hype and find the smart city model that suits African realities. "So somewhere, even if it's a fad, we have to go and I think it's excessively good that there are questions about the types of cities we are going to make and what the smart city will be."

One question Chenal addresses during the interview is whether the promoters of these smart-cities really take into account the real needs of African cities. The researcher points out that in Africa today, there is already a use of technology by social groups. "Somewhere today," he says, "there is an appropriation of technology in African cities that is much more effective than anywhere else in the world." He notes that the robust but low-tech technologies already in use in African cities are "much more efficient than what can be brought to market with gigs and ultra-fast processors."

Indeed, Jerome remembers walking through African cities and paying for a cab or a meal with a cell phone. "The smart city has already existed in Africa for a long time. You just have to open your eyes to see how social groups organize themselves." He says there is already a measure of wealth right in front of African governments and, he says, they should develop the systems that sustain this kind of intellectual advancement rather than starting from scratch.

Professor Chenal also discusses the various challenges that African cities face when designing a smart city. "The smart city, as imagined in these large projects, has a huge cost in electrical energy." This, he explains, is a very important issue because you have to realize that most African cities still suffer from power outages because there is not enough electricity for everyone. "So, I want us to make smart cities with computer screens everywhere, but at some point, we will have to ask the question of our consumption of raw materials behind this smart city and our energy consumption." He notes that while technology can improve systems and make them more efficient, shortages of things like energy, sanitation and water will remain.

As for the dimensions related to tradition and modernity emphasized in many of these projects, Chenal talks about something he calls "alter-modernity," which would draw on both tradition and modernity to redefine in each city the conditions for modernity. "You have to borrow from tradition what is really useful, necessary and sustainable," he says, "It is not established that one does not live better in an earthen or wooden building. It's a matter of image and desirability." Indeed, he observes that the modern way of life has been made desirable, leading him to conclude that "we need to change the desirability of things, and the values they inspire."

As for the role of governments in these projects, Chenal points to the misconception in people's minds that the state makes a city, and therefore it is up to the state to do everything. While he recognizes the need for the government to have a regulatory role, he believes that it is the citizen who must be made to face up to his responsibilities and that "he has a place as an actor in the construction of cities instead of just being a tenant." Finally, he believes in the need to think outside the box, making sure you have the ability to do everything, in terms of money, time and materials, before embarking on a project. "At some point, you have to change your mindset, look at things differently and find a new way of doing things. And that's what's missing today," he concludes, "it's essential to stop rushing."

Read the interview at: https://www.agenceecofin.com/gouvernance/2512-83833-la-ville-intelligente-existe-deja-en-afrique-depuis-longtemps-il-suffit-d-ouvrir-les-yeux-pour-la-voir-jerome-chenal