From Commitment to Implementation: A Systematic Review of SDG 11 Progress and Governance Constraints in African Cities

This study systematically examines the extent of progress towards SDG 11 in African cities, the governance constraints shaping implementation, and the policy lessons emerging from the evidence. Guided by PRISMA, the review included 223 English‐language, peer‐reviewed journal articles published between 2015 and 2026 and identified through Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Eligible studies addressed SDG 11 or closely related urban sustainability themes within African urban contexts. The evidence was analysed through inductive thematic synthesis, alongside coding of reported progress as low, moderate, or high. Socio‐political and economic power dynamics were also examined to identify how actors, interests, and mechanisms of influence shaped implementation. Findings show that progress is predominantly moderate and uneven, indicating partial rather than transformative implementation. Institutional constraints are dominant and concentrated particularly at the local level, while multi‐level coordination, administrative, financial, and data limitations further constrain implementation. The analysis further shows that political interference, competing interests, and unequal influence can shape or reinforce some governance constraints, although power does not account for all implementation limitations. The synthesis therefore indicates that capacity constraints and power relations can operate independently or interact, helping explain the persistent gap between formal sustainability commitments and practical outcomes. The study contributes a commitment–implementation perspective that links reported progress with interconnected governance and socio‐political conditions, providing a more differentiated explanation of why formal SDG 11 commitments coexist with moderate and uneven implementation in African cities.