OECD HomeSocial and welfare issuesHow is life in West Africa's cities? - Results from an online perception survey of life in urban areas - en
Social and welfare issues
How is life in West Africa's cities?
Results from an online perception survey of life in urban areas
The number of people living in African cities is expected to double over the next
two decades. While the need to provide adequate infrastructure, create high quality
jobs and manage pollution in fast growing cities has been well studied, these studies
say little about subjective quality of city life. This paper presents findings from
the first large-scale quality of life perception survey covering 27 cities in 17 countries
in West Africa and the Sahel. Responses from nearly 9000 urban West Africans provide
an insight into perceptions of city life, local government quality, and policy priorities
with the intention of giving residents a voice in the policy dialogue on the future
of African cities. In addition to comparing perceptions across cities, the paper demonstrates
the feasibility of an online approach to run large-scale online surveys in West African
cities of different sizes and cultural contexts.