African cities are undergoing rapid and profound transformations, marked by accelerated urbanization, infrastructural restructuring, changes in social practices, and growing tensions over access to urban resources. This issue of African Cities Journal offers an integrated reading of these dynamics based on empirical studies conducted in several African urban contexts (Cameroon, Senegal, Morocco, Benin, and Burundi). Using interdisciplinary approaches, the contributions analyze the relationships between infrastructure, the environment, public policy, and the daily lives of city dwellers. This introductory article aims to provide a scientific overview of the issue, explain its objectives, and present the specific contributions of each article.

This issue explores the changing dynamics of African cities in the face of contemporary challenges. Through a series of five different but interconnected articles, it examines how emerging urban practices, based on resilience and innovation, are redefining urban spaces across the continent. Africa's rapidly expanding cities, with some of the highest population growth rates in the world, face complex challenges such as rapid urbanization, social inequalities, food security, lack of adequate infrastructure and adaptation to climate change. However, they are also hotbeds of creative initiative and local innovation, turning challenges into opportunities. Thus, urban practices need to adapt in the face of multifaceted challenges to reinvent the city in fast-changing urban Africa.