Urbanization is generally considered a measure of development and at the same time becomes a challenge to authorities. The challenge generally arises from having to provide adequate and high quality services to the populace. These services of #water, #electricity, #education and #health facilities, police and social needs to name some, will vary depending on the state of affairs both locally and internationally.
In a race to meet these challenges, urban area authorities had/have devised various plans that surrounded a smart cities philosophy such as concentrated housing, integrated public transport and integrated Public Private Partnerships (PPP) where possible. #Africa has taken to these steps as options that can help the societies jump into high speed development modes.
If the three key features of a #smart city are focused on, #Covid_19 has either put paid to the approach with social distancing needs or new revenue/financing arrangements as is evident from the fresh sets of business rescue requests that challenge PPP futures. #Namibia has been no different and so the challenges faced should now be acted on while time is on the side of authorities. It has become obvious that spaced out areas are now more advantageous as public transport becomes "risky" for #disease transmission and that dependency on loans as a means of new #capital project acquisition needs a rethink in the face of #threats to revenue models that feed "project finance" methods.
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