Unlocking the Potential of Local Circular Construction Materials in Urbanising Africa
Africa is the fastest-growing region in the world. Unfortunately, current construction in Africa is highly dependent on imported construction materials with high negative environmental impacts. The new SBC publication Unlocking the Potential of Local Circular Materials in Urbanising Africa presents a building concept for high-density neighbourhoods that promotes the use of responsibly sourced local materials.
This publication’s focus is on the sustainable use of building materials in urbanising Africa. African countries face challenges with poverty, unemployment, rapid population growth and urbanisation, and housing backlogs resulting from the construction sector’s failure to meet the demand arising from the exponential growth of cities. This sector is growing fast and is often reliant on an informal unskilled workforce and imported materials that have high negative environmental impacts. Traditional bio-climatic construction is being replaced by modern construction at a fast pace, and the resultant changes in the African construction material palette have many disadvantages.
