Africa, one of the least urbanized continents of the world, is urbanizing rapidly. Thus, in the year 2000 Africa's total population (estimated at 794 million) was 37.2 percent urbanized – the lowest of any major continental region of the world. During the next thirty years, however, the United Nations projects an annual average growth rate for Africa at 3.27 percent, the highest in the world by a substantial margin. The twin trends of decentralization and democratization have affected much of West Africa. The workshop will address potential ideas and approaches to an upcoming urban forum, which the Comparative Urban Studies Project is organizing for December, 2003, also in Dakar. Among the topics for discussion are the current urbanization experience in West African (anglophone and francophone) countries; new approaches to urban governance and urban policy research in comparative perspective; the experience of decentralization; and experiences with municipal governance and democracy in the West African – and wider African – region. The workshop itself will be a closed meeting of approximately fifteen participants from a variety of different backgrounds.