In this final episode of The City Show: An Unstoppable Force, we look ahead to Africa's urban future. With cities growing faster than anywhere else on Earth, the question is: what kind of urban world are we building—and for whom? Data expert George Kibala-Bauer explains why access to data will determine how cities plan and adapt. Futurist Geci Karuri-Sebina argues for innovation rooted in local realities, not imported tech models. In Dakar, architect Nzinga Biegueng Mboup shows how low-tech, locally sourced materials can redefine sustainable design. And from Harare, activist Namatai Kwekweza reminds us that Africa's young majority must have a real voice in shaping what's next. Together, they sketch out a future where technology, tradition, and youth energy could finally align to shape cities that reflect and belong to the people who live in them.

In this episode of The City Show, we hit the streets to see how people are shaping everyday life in three very different African cities. In Nairobi's Mathare, community organiser Gathanga Ndungu and a network of women activists are fighting for safety, dignity, and justice in one of the city's oldest and most neglected neighbourhoods. In Lusaka, Mildred Musonda Nkole's roadside café shows how small-scale entrepreneurship keeps cities fed and communities connected even amid power cuts and economic strain. And in Cairo, heritage expert May al-Ibrashy and the women of Athar Lina reveal how preserving old buildings is also about protecting stories, livelihoods, and identity. Together, their stories capture the energy, resilience, and reinvention driving cities across Africa.

When African countries gained independence, most cities still looked like the ones the colonisers left behind—European-style centers for the privileged, surrounded by neglected areas for everyone else. Instead of breaking that pattern, post-independence governments mostly ended up reinforcing it. Disentangling cities across Africa from that legacy remains one of the continent's biggest challenges, with governments still struggling to fund or design policies that truly shift the course.

The first episode of The City Show's third season unpacks why this persists, and the new momentum that is becoming a common feature of life in cities across the continent. We speak to South African urbanist Edgar Pieterse, Ghanaian analyst Bright Simons, Kenyan anthropologist Wangui Kimari, and Gambian mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda.