Human-Centred Streets: The Proven Way to Reclaim African Urban Sociability
Every city tells a story through its streets. They reveal how people live, how they meet, and what they value. In much of contemporary urbanism, the street has been stripped of meaning. It has become an instrument of movement rather than a medium of connection. Yet in the towns and cities of West and North-West […]
Biophilic Design: The Proven Way to Shape Sustainable African Communities
A city breathes when its architecture remembers nature. Too often, our modern buildings forget this. They stand aloof, smooth-faced and sterile, as though ashamed of the earth that birthed them. Yet the human mind seeks pattern, texture, and the slow irregularities of growth. Biophilic design aims to answer that longing. At its heart lies a […]
Open-Source Urbanism: The Proven Way to Empower African City Builders
Urban design cannot succeed if knowledge remains locked behind bureaucracy. The tools of planning must be shared, adapted, and co-created. In West and Northwest Africa, open-source frameworks offer a path towards equitable and resilient cities—ones that return agency to local hands while embracing sustainable, place-based practices. Bamboo, laterite, rammed earth, and reclaimed timber are not […]
Circularity in Construction: Where Bamboo Belongs
Urban planning should serve both the city and its people. That principle lies at the heart of sustainable development. When we speak of circularity in construction, we speak of more than recycling. We refer to a system where buildings respect resource limits, regenerate natural systems, and strengthen social bonds. In this, bamboo has a rightful […]
Designing with Bamboo: Sustainable Materials for the Urban Public Good
Through the analogy of urban metabolism, there is an understanding in policy cirlces that cities breathe. Their streets pulse with movement, their parks hum with conversation, and their buildings stand as witnesses to history. Yet, beneath this liveliness, an old challenge lingers—how to build with care, for both people and the planet. Bamboo, often dismissed […]