9. Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implementation Drivers, Challenges and Practices

Despite the noble and aspirational intent of the targets set forth in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), from the global perspective, there is no single country which has completely managed to achieve these targets. However, anecdotal, and empirical evidence suggests a disparity in the progress with developed countries in Europe and North American having made great strides in actualising some of SGD’s targets. In contrast, developing countries, particularly those in sub- Saharan Africa are continuously faced with a myriad of implementation challenges. Critical of these is urbanization, which is considered among the key hindrances towards achieving the SDG 11 due to urban population growth, leading to many countries struggling to meet the population needs such as housing, education, transportation, sanitation, energy, healthcare, and employment amongst others. Therefore, this chapter will focus on SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities) with emphasis on developing viable solutions intended to address its first target and indicator, namely that of “ensuring access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums”. This indicator is one of the major challenges affecting sub-Saharan Africa region due to little progress made to improve the slum dwellers lives. Using Tanzania as a case study due to its rapid growth in population currently projected at 60 million in 2020, and urbanisation which has contributed towards inadequate housing for a number of decades, the chapter will use theoretical lenses such as Giddens Structuration Theory provide insights into understanding the drivers (influencing the implementation), challenges (for eradication) and practices (for implementing) affordable housing as a solution to addressing some of the objectives of SDGs 11. The chapter will draw on several case studies, definitions, concepts, theoretical models, and applications from a few selected developing countries. Some best practices for actualising Affordable Housing are also proposed.