The South African Cities Network (SACN) is an established network of South African cities and partners that encourages the exchange of information, experience and best practice on urban development and city management. Working together with South African cities and partners through research, knowledge sharing, peer learning and innovation, the SACN is at the forefront of efforts to achieve the urban futures vision outlined in the Integrated Urban Development Framework and the National Development Plan.
The mandate of the SACN is to:
- Promote good governance and management in South African cities;
- Analyse strategic challenges facing South African cities, particularly in the context of global economic integration and national development challenges;
- Collect, collate, analyse, assess, disseminate and apply the experience of large city government in a South African context; and
- Promote shared-learning partnerships between different spheres of government to support the management of South African cities.
SACN defines its scope of work according to the following thematic logic: that high-performing cities are productive, inclusive and sustainable cities which are well- governed, and guided by long-term city development strategies. The SACN thus undertakes knowledge-generation activities within each of these themes, with a special focus on measuring the performance of South Africa’s major cities such as the The State of Cities Report, which is released every five years and coincides with the term of local government.
Together with our participating cities we are focused on making cities and communities inclusive, safe, and sustainable.
