Critiquing the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review of Housing Policies and the Challenge of Upgrading Informal Settlements

Urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa has brought both opportunities and challenges, with the rapid expansion of informal settlements emerging as a critical issue for sustainable urban development. The New Urban Agenda (NUA), adopted in 2016, provides a global framework for addressing these challenges; however, its implementation in the region remains uneven and fraught with complexities. This research critiques the application of the NUA’s principles related to informal settlement upgrading, focusing on housing policies and their alignment with inclusive and sustainable urban development objectives. Despite the NUA’s efforts on inclusivity, resilience, and sustainability, informal settlement upgrading in Sub-Saharan Africa is hindered by systemic barriers, including insecure land tenure, inadequate infrastructure, limited financing, and fragmented governance. Using a systematic review methodology, the study synthesises evidence from academic literature, policy documents, and case studies across the region. The analysis framework is guided by the NUA’s core principles of inclusivity, sustainability, and resilience. Findings reveal significant limitations in policy implementation, particularly regarding community participation, tenure formalization, infrastructure provision, and resource mobilization. In response, the study proposes the Localised Inclusive Informal Settlement Upgrading Framework (LIISUF), which provides an actionable pathway for aligning informal settlement upgrading practices with NUA principles. Through stressing flexible tenure arrangements, community-led planning, incremental infrastructure provision, innovative financing, and coordinated governance, LIISUF aims to enhance equity, sustainability, and resilience in African urban development, offering practical guidance implement inclusive and locally relevant upgrading initiatives.