Open research questions in Urban and Rural Development Challenges

What the literature leaves open

• Urbanization is often rapid but spatially uneven in sub-Saharan Africa, creating complex peri-urban mosaics that are poorly captured by static administrative classifications. There is a need for a longitudinal multi-proxy geospatial classification of peri-urban transitions across community health units in coastal Kenya.

  A longitudinal multi‑proxy geospatial classification of peri‑urban transitions across community health units in coastal Kenya · 2026 · DOI

• The findings indicate that transit investments alone are insufficient due to gaps in zoning policies, pedestrian connectivity, and urban density.

  Sustainable Urban Renewal: Planning Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in Riyadh · 2025 · DOI

• While few studies are conducted globally to protect mountain resources, in Ghana there is dearth of literature for this kind of study.

  The environmental and economic impacts of urban development in mountainous areas of Africa – with special reference to Ghana · 2025 · DOI

• The study identifies a lack of space, unclear savings on water payments, and insufficient information/awareness as primary micro-level obstacles to implementing water recycling systems in residential properties.

  Enhancing water recycling adoption in South African residential properties: a multi-dimensional analysis for sustainable water management · 2024 · DOI

• Further study on the cultural and social implications of micro housing in India. Analysis of the effectiveness of micro housing in different cities and regions.

  Micro Housing in India as a sustainable response to urban housing shortages · 2026 · DOI

• The scalability of the CIDCO lottery-based model to diverse state housing boards and regional contexts across India has not been empirically tested or validated.

  Micro Housing in India as a sustainable response to urban housing shortages · 2026 · DOI

• Informal SMEs face challenges in accessing financing through conventional banking channels or equity financing. Informal SMEs typically lack collateral, have excessive outstanding debt and generally do not keep business financial records.

  From Survivalism to Entrepreneurship, Disclosure and Accountability: Rethinking African Urban Economies for Sustainability · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of empirical research on the effectiveness of small, medium enterprises (SMEs) in Africa's informal economy. The study identifies a gap in the understanding of the factors that influence the performance of SMEs in the informal sector.

  From Survivalism to Entrepreneurship, Disclosure and Accountability: Rethinking African Urban Economies for Sustainability · 2026 · DOI

• A significant gap exists between the potential and reality of road infrastructure in Akwa Ibom State. The study identifies the need for targeted and participatory infrastructure policies for sustainable rural development and poverty alleviation.

  Road Construction and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria: A Study of Itu Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State · 2026 · DOI

• Based on the findings, the study proposes that: 1. Akwa Ibom State Government should prioritise the completion and asphalting of key feeder roads in Itu LGA, starting with those linking major agricultural zones to the Calabar- Itu highway. 2. The government should expedite payment of compensation to property owners whose land and businesses have been destroyed or damaged. 3. Address the flooding crisis at Urua Ekpa Road through proper engineering and drainage systems, fulfilling promises made since 1999.

  Road Construction and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria: A Study of Itu Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of digital infrastructure and e-governance frameworks in physical planning administration. The dominance of paper-based processing and lack of online application tracking. The need for a comprehensive framework to address these challenges.

  Application of Digital Technology for Enhanced Physical Planning Services in Nigeria: E-Governance and the Digitalisation of Planning Applications, Procedures, And Approvals · 2026 · DOI

• Based on the findings and framework presented, this study advances the following recommendations for policymakers, planning authorities, and professional bodies: State governments should enact enabling legislation that formally recognises digital permits, electronic signatures, and online submissions as legally valid instruments within their planning regulatory frameworks, closing the current legal vacuum that discourages institutional digitalisation. The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and relevant planning agencies, should develop a National Digital Planning Standards Framework to ensure baseline interoperability, data exchange standards, and performance consistency across states. Planning authorities should prioritise systematic cadastral map digitisation and land registry database integration with digital permit systems as a precondition for GIS-based spatial verification — without which digital systems cannot achieve their potential accuracy or efficiency gains. The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) and TOPREC should formally integrate digital planning competencies — including GIS operation, KPI monitoring, and digital workflow management — into their professional development programmes and continuing education curricula, ensuring that the profession evolves in step with governance technology. States with limited capital budgets should adopt the phased Starter Toolkit approach (QField + QGIS + KoboCollect) before progressing to more expensive enterprise platforms, demonstrating that meaningful digital transformation is not contingent on large initial capital investments. All planning authorities should implement the Executive KPI Scorecard proposed in this study — encompassing Approval Velocity, Departmental Throughput, Revenue Integrity, GIS Accuracy Rate, and Citizen Satisfaction — as the minimum operational standard for digital performance monitoring. Donor agencies and development finance institutions operating in Nigeria should establish dedicated funding windows for digital planning infrastructure investment, recognising that planning system efficiency is a foundational enabler of urban investment climate, housing market development, and sustainable city management. REFERENCES 1) Adeniran, A., & Mabogunje, A. (2022). Digital cadastral systems and spatial planning intelligence in land administration. Journal of African Planning Research, 14(2), 88–107. 2) Aribigbola, A. (2008). Improving urban land use planning and management in Nigeria: The case of Akure. Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, 3(9), 1–14. 3) Holzer, M., & Schwester, R. W. (2011). Public administration: An introduction. M.E. Sharpe. 4) Nigerian Institute of Town Planners. (n.d.). Professional practice standards and planning administration guidelines. NITP. 5) Ogbonna, C., Nwafor, J. C., Okeke, D. C., & Udeh, S. N. (2022).

  Application of Digital Technology for Enhanced Physical Planning Services in Nigeria: E-Governance and the Digitalisation of Planning Applications, Procedures, And Approvals · 2026 · DOI

• The global housing deficit is a significant development challenge. Rapid population growth and urbanization have intensified demand for affordable housing in Kenya. The study highlights the challenges of achieving superior project outcomes in the context of limited resources and capacity.

  Project Implementation Practices and Project Performance of the Integrated Housing Projects in Laikipia County, Kenya · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the literature regarding the relationship between project implementation practices and project performance. The study highlights the need for further research on the mediating role of organizational capacity in this relationship.

  Project Implementation Practices and Project Performance of the Integrated Housing Projects in Laikipia County, Kenya · 2026 · DOI

• Inadequate infrastructure and health systems in African cities. Limited capacity to respond to the pandemic. Significant economic impacts on African cities, particularly in the manufacturing and services sectors.

  Why Africa Must Not Build the Cities the World Already Regrets · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of data and research on COVID-19 in African cities limits the understanding of the pandemic's impacts. The need for proactive responses and resilient health systems to contain the pandemic in African cities.

  Why Africa Must Not Build the Cities the World Already Regrets · 2026 · DOI

• The study only interviews 46 low-income respondents. The study area is limited to Amakohia and Akwakuma in Owerri North local government area of Imo state.

  UNDERSTANDING HOUSING SITUATION OF LOW-INCOME GROUPS IN NIGERIA AND THEIR PERCEPTION TO MORTGAGE FINANCING · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the literature on the housing situation of low-income groups in Nigeria. The study highlights the need for more research on the perception of mortgage financing among low-income groups.

  UNDERSTANDING HOUSING SITUATION OF LOW-INCOME GROUPS IN NIGERIA AND THEIR PERCEPTION TO MORTGAGE FINANCING · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in effective urban governance in Nigeria. Prior work has not fully addressed the cultural and political nuances of the Nigerian context.

  EFFECTIVE URBAN GOVERNANCE FOR CITY MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY IN NIGERIA · 2026 · DOI

• The study projects that urban governance can be improved for city sustainability through the following recommendations, • Push for community led initiatives in areas where communities have records like in Lagos’s • waste-to-energy initiatives that is shown to have improved urban environment. Institute policies for accountability and transparency to greatly improve governance by allowing citizens follow progress of policies and make vital inputs in real time. • Create avenues that prioritize environmental justice in urban planning ensuring equitable accessibility to urban facilities to both wealthy and poor neighbourhoods. • Strengthen the collaboration of public-private and public-community partnerships in the provision and maintenance of basic facilities to increase their protection and lifespan. • Using smart planning techniques such as climate-smart planning that can integrate flood-risk • maps into urban designs for environmental protection (Nwokocha, 2026). Integrate proven global practices that can be replicated locally, removing dependence on governments, like Kenya’s Kisumu Informal Settlement Programme that provided 10,000 affordable housing units through community cooperatives (UN-Habitat, 2023). The Scale Journal 2026, Volume 5 Issue 1 24 The scale Journal Website: https://thescalejournal.com.ng/ An Interdisciplinary Journal of https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20278998 The ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF POLYTECHNICS - ZONE D ISSN: 2992-3727 Published 30th May, 2026 • For land administration urban governments can use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) an important tool for land-use monitoring for effective management (Okafor et al., 2024). • Some decision-making authority can be transferred to local governments and communities, enabling for more responsive, closer and tailored service delivery (Adewoyin, 2018). • The World Bank (2018) calls for performance measurement that uses proven indicators and metrics to evaluate performance of urban services and hold governments accountable. • Market-oriented approaches that leverage private sector resources and expertise to deliver urban services and infrastructure has long been advocated by Osborne & Gaebler (1992).

  EFFECTIVE URBAN GOVERNANCE FOR CITY MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY IN NIGERIA · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should investigate the impact of governance and administration on housing affordability. It should examine the effects of macroeconomic strength and population pressures on changes in housing affordability.

  COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GDP AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING · 2026 · DOI

• Effective results and and the of SCIENTIFIC CULTURE, Vol. 12, No. 4, (2026), pp. 7143-7154 7145 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GDP AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING regulatory the availability of affordable housing, even though there is a lot of writing on urban development and housing policy. Most of the studies that are out there look at GDP growth and housing affordability as separate issues, looking at macroeconomic progress or urban housing shortages on their own. The connection between the economic growth on the state level and the housing price in the city has not been systematically investigated by many people. To find out whether the money created by raising the GDP really leads to the development of the quality of life, we have to close this gap. The difference in fiscal frameworks, and policy capacity, implementation can be compared in a relatively way and demonstrate how the differences in the mentioned aspects can influence housing equity in different cities in India (Agarwal et al., 2022). This research paper presents a comparative study of the correlation between GSDP and affordable housing in eight cities in India namely Mumbai, Nagpur, Chennai, Madurai, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Ahmedabad, and Rajkot. It is a four-state high-GDP framework representing an economic diversity balanced representation with similar governance situations. The study will assess the relationship between economic prosperity and better housing access or limiting inefficiencies improvements in housing access through the analysis of variables like the GDP contribution, population growth, policy implementation, budget allocation and affordability. It also provides a comparative evaluation of governance performance to identify structural barriers that hinder the translation of economic growth into equitable housing outcomes. The essence of the hypothesis of the study is that being in a better position in terms of higher GDP level of states imply a better financial capability and more investment in infrastructure, but it does not imply proportionate improvement in housing affordability of the low- and middle-income levels. Growth in the economy usually triggers speculative real estate construction resulting inflation and exclusion development of cities. On the contrary, the states with low GDP, though with a lesser inflation in involvement and the market, have few private administrative inhibit housing inefficiencies that supply (ESCAP, 2025). Thus, the cost of housing in India is determined not only by the rate of economic growth, but also by the quality of governance, fiscal decentralization the institutional processes. The comparative angle of the present research is very close to the intentions of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11, in inclusiveness institutional into price and of balance that would which cities are to become inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable by incorporating social equity in urban development (Singh and Shankar, 2025). It is therefore important to understand how GDP and affordable housing operate to come up with policy frameworks economic modernization and distributive justice and human development. Lastly, the paper aims at creating an evidence-based the knowledge on macroeconomic inclusive governance and equitable urban planning in India. It contributes to the scholarly debate of the economic social nexus of development policy by implying that institutional reform, policy consistency, and spatial justice should follow the long-term growth. Only when economic development is linked with the development of appropriate governing system and social justice structures, the cities in India will become the place where dignity and opportunities, as well as affordable living, will be offered to both rural and urban citizens.

  COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GDP AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING · 2026 · DOI

• The challenge of ensuring affordable housing has become a global priority - There is a need for interdisciplinary approaches to address housing affordability challenges effectively - The study aims to identify gaps and future directions for affordable housing research

  EVOLUTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING RESEARCH: EVIDENCE FROM A SYSTEMATIC BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS · 2026 · DOI

• The study addresses the gap in context-specific empirical analysis of Noida. The study identifies the lack of cultural responsiveness in housing design as a significant gap.

  Assessing the Viability of Sustainable Housing Parameters for Industrial Workers in Rapidly Urbanizing India: A Case Study of Noida, Uttar Pradesh · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of empirical studies on the specific contributions of INGOs to capacity building at the grassroots level in Ethiopia. The need to investigate the impact of INGOs on community capacity in the Sidama National Regional State of Ethiopia.

  The Contribution of International Non-Governmental Organisations to Capacity Building in Sidama National Regional State of Ethiopia · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Urban and Rural Development Challenges

• The Value of Democracy: Evidence from Road Building in Kenya · American Economic Review · 2015 · 477 citations
• The trends, promises and challenges of urbanisation in the world · Habitat International · 2015 · 446 citations
• Africa’s urbanisation: Implications for sustainable development · Cities · 2015 · 367 citations
• Temporary housing after disasters: A state of the art survey · Habitat International · 2013 · 232 citations
• Planning, Anti-planning and the Infrastructure Crisis Facing Metropolitan Lagos · Urban Studies · 2006 · 217 citations
• Mandating Citizen Participation in Plan Making:Six Strategic Planning Choices · Journal of the American Planning Association · 2003 · 217 citations
• Urban growth of Kampala, Uganda: Pattern analysis and scenario development · Landscape and Urban Planning · 2012 · 207 citations
• Planning for sustainable urbanisation in fast growing cities: Mitigation and adaptation issues addressed in Dhaka, Bangladesh · Habitat International · 2008 · 184 citations
• The continuity and change in mega-urbanization in Indonesia: A survey of Jakarta–Bandung Region (JBR) development · Habitat International · 2008 · 178 citations
• Assessment of residential satisfaction in public housing in Ogun State, Nigeria · Habitat International · 2013 · 168 citations

Most recent work

• Constraints Facing Incremental Housing Construction in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania · Journal of Construction in Developing Countries · 2026
• Is urban growth conflict-induced or economically motivated? An assessment of economic and non-economic drivers of urbanisation in Nigeria · Quality & Quantity · 2026
• The politics of urban climate adaptation: informality, institutional action, and resilience in Ghana's cities · Cities · 2026
• Aquatic informal settlements: Vernacular design strategies for flood-resilient built environments · Habitat International · 2026
• Urban green infrastructure as community facilities: a stewardship framework for the Segoditshane river corridor in Gaborone, Botswana · Facilities · 2026
• The politics of informal settlements in African cities: Comparative insights from Accra, Freetown, Harare and Kampala · Cities · 2026
• Informal settlements lock-in: Drivers, impacts, and pathways to sustainable urban development - A thematic review · Cities · 2026
• Informal housing adaptation to sociocultural and environmental conditions: Peri-urban dwelling practices under rapid urbanization in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania · Cities · 2026
• The Road to Stock Market Participation · Management Science · 2026
• Authoritarian Entrepreneurism in Urban Megaproject: The Corridor Development Project in Addis Ababa · Geoforum · 2026

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