Linking Corridor Investment with Territorial and Urban Development for economic transformation, resilience and housing.

Africa is urbanising faster than any other region, with nearly half its population now living in cities and the urban population projected to double by 2050. Much of this growth is unplanned, leading to informal settlements, infrastructure gaps, and heightened social, environmental and climate risks. In recent years, many African countries have experienced unprecedented levels of infrastructure investment, reshaping development patterns across the continent. As pan-African trade expands through the African Continental Free Trade Area, (AfCFTA), significant international investment is being channeled into transport and trade corridors, often spanning multiple countries. These corridors attract economic activity and stimulate urban growth. When this growth occurs spontaneously it often results in informal, ribbon-like urbanisation that disrupts corridor efficiency and contributes to environmental degradation. With effective planning, however, strategically located cities and settlements along corridors can function as nodes for production, markets, and logistics, creating jobs, strengthening secondary cities, and distributing the benefits of urbanisation more sustainably. This planned approach can also help address Africa’s housing crisis by easing pressure on major metropolitan areas and supporting balanced growth across interconnected settlements. The event explores how integrated corridor and city investments can be designed and implemented to maximise economic, social, and spatial benefits in rapidly urbanising contexts. It highlights the role of multi-scalar planning in aligning regional corridor development with city-level and local urban expansion, ensuring that growth enhances, rather than undermines corridor efficiency. The event will also examine how the EU Global Gateway 360-Degree Approach, linking infrastructure investment with policy and institutional development can be applied to achieve holistic impacts. Discussions will emphasise strengthening multi-level governance that connects national, regional, and local actors, ensures the meaningful participation of local and regional authorities in planning, financing, and delivery, and builds local institutional and technical capacity to translate large-scale infrastructure investments into tangible outcomes. The session will further explore coordinated financing pathways that respond to diverse investment scales and needs, identifying practical governance and financing solutions to support more inclusive, resilient, and well-planned urbanisation linked to strategic corridor development.