meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Documentary Podcast

Africa’s Urban Future: South Africa

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.32.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2023

⏱️ 39 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Apartheid may now be long buried politically but in and around South Africa’s main cities it has left a visible legacy. Those entrenched historical problems could be about to get worse as cities like Johannesburg and Cape Town continue to grow rapidly, as a result of both migration and the natural population growth. Persistent power cuts and creaking infrastructure are major challenges to the ever-quickening pace of urbanisation. Can an ambitious new plan for Stellenbosch, the place where apartheid was reportedly conceived, help to break down the post-apartheid legacy of urban planning?

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

What's up y'all, I'm Renee Montgomery and my podcast Untold Legends Aura is available

0:05.4

now.

0:06.6

I'm looking back on the life of one of the most extraordinary black female sport stars

0:11.6

of the 20th century, whose name has been all but forgotten.

0:16.0

Aura Washington.

0:18.1

To find out more, just search for Untold Legends wherever you found this podcast.

0:29.2

By the end of this century, the UN predicts that Africa, which had less than a tenth of

0:33.8

the world's population in 1950, could be home to 40% of humanity.

0:40.1

Most of this staggering demographic growth will take place in Africa's cities, and the

0:44.8

question of how the continent manages the fastest urbanization in human history will not

0:50.1

only affect the daily lives of the millions of Africans, but shape everything from migration

0:56.0

and global economic prosperity to the future of the African nation state and the prospects

1:02.7

of limiting the climate crisis.

1:05.2

I'm Mike Woodridge, and living in and reporting on Africa over the past 50 years, I've seen

1:11.0

the real sense of the enormity and magnitude of these changes.

1:16.0

And I'm Milton Ungorsi, and together we'll be considering the opportunities and challenges

1:22.0

these breakneck developments present for Africa and the rest of the world.

1:28.6

Milton, I knew you're here as a leading BBC journalist, isn't that?

1:32.2

Now I'm a senior research fellow at Africa Asia Dialogues, a think tank.

1:37.6

And you were born here in Soweto, I believe.

1:39.8

Oh yes, indeed, I was born and bred here in Soweto.

1:44.7

In this third episode of the documentary, Africa's urban future from the BBC World Service,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.