Africa’s cities are at a pivotal crossroads as they grapple with the escalating impacts of climate change. Rapid urbanization, combined with existing challenges such as inadequate infrastructure and socioeconomic inequality, has left many urban centers highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, water scarcity, flooding, and heat waves. The stakes are high: millions of lives and livelihoods are at risk, and the economic costs of inaction are mounting. Yet, within these challenges lies an opportunity for transformation.
Building climate-resilient cities in Africa requires a holistic approach combining innovative urban planning, community-driven solutions, robust governance, and nature-based strategies. However, challenges include top-down planning, underinvestment, and fragmented efforts, which hinder the vision of safer, more inclusive, and sustainable urban spaces.
Drawing on best practices from across the continent and learning from past missteps, African cities can chart a course toward resilience that is both locally grounded and globally informed. This article explores the practical steps, success stories, and common challenges in building climate-resilient cities across Africa.
Table of Contents
Why Are Cities Important?
The United Nations predicts that by 2050, 68% of the world's population will reside in urban areas or global cities, a significant rise from the current 55%, driven by population growth and migration from rural to urban areas.
By 2050, 65% of Africa's population is predicted to live in urban areas, a significant increase from 54% in 2020, indicating one of the fastest global urbanization rates.
None of us wishes to live in cramped, ugly, unhygienic places. Implementing key planning measures is essential to ensuring balanced urban growth. City administrations and the public share the responsibility for effectively managing this growth.
How to Build Climate-Resilient Cities in Africa: Best Practices and Pitfalls
Africa's urban centers are facing climate change threats, including extreme weather, water scarcity, flooding, and heat waves. With over 1.7 million people affected and billions of dollars in damages, African cities must become climate-resilient through a multifaceted approach that involves innovation, community engagement, and effective governance.
Here’s how African cities can lead the way, along with the pitfalls to avoid.
Understanding the Challenge
African cities are vulnerable due to rapid urbanization, inadequate infrastructure, and socioeconomic challenges. Climate change exacerbates these vulnerabilities, causing water crises, flooding, food insecurity, and infrastructure strain. Addressing these issues requires holistic strategies that integrate scientific insights, policy, and grassroots action.
Best Practices for Building Climate-Resilient Cities
Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration
Why it matters: Climate resilience is a complex issue that necessitates collaborations among various stakeholders, including local governments, national authorities, civil society, academia, and the private sector.
How it works: Governance structures in Lagos and Johannesburg have fostered collaboration, allowing cities to pool resources, exchange expertise, and implement unified adaptation strategies. Through the Coalition for High-Ambition Multi-Level Partnerships (CHAMP), national and local governments coordinate their efforts to ensure strategic alignment for effective climate adaptation.
Inclusive Decision-Making
Why it matters: Resilience initiatives should be fair and inclusive, catering to the needs of all, particularly marginalized and vulnerable groups.
How it works: Participatory planning processes in cities like Dar es Salaam have strengthened grassroots resilience through community-based adaptation strategies, such as urban agriculture, rainwater harvesting, and mangrove restoration, ensuring that local realities are grounded in effective adaptation strategies.
Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing
Why it matters: Many cities lack the technical and institutional resources to execute intricate climate projects effectively.
How it works: Investing in training, education, and knowledge exchange platforms like ACCRA enables cities to learn from one another, avoid mistakes, foster innovation, and accelerate the adoption of best practices.
Nature-Based Solutions
Why it matters: Restoring ecosystems offers cost-effective protection against climate risks while also promoting biodiversity and human well-being.
How it works: Cities like Accra and Durban have invested in wetland restoration and sustainable drainage systems to mitigate flooding and enhance urban resilience, demonstrating the importance of working in harmony with nature rather than against it.
Urban Planning and Green Infrastructure
Why it matters: Smart urban planning is a strategy that minimizes disaster risks and also enhances long-term resilience.
How it works: Integration of green infrastructure in city plans manages stormwater, reduces heat, and improves air quality, while flexible land-use policies enable cities to adapt to changing climate conditions.
Lessons from African Cities: Case Studies
The examples emphasize the importance of implementing context-specific solutions and learning from successes and failures.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid (with examples)
A city is a living entity that caters to the context of our lives. Therefore, it is crucial to avoid downsides in its planning strategy.
Top-Down Approaches: Inclusive planning promotes equitable urban environments by involving diverse voices and addressing unique challenges, thereby preventing marginalization of vulnerable groups and ensuring the inclusion of local communities in planning processes.
Nairobi's Kibera slum faces evictions due to government-led redevelopment projects that lack resident input, resulting in the loss of livelihoods, social networks, and inadequate housing solutions, which forces many residents into informal settlements.
Short-Term Thinking: Short-term thinking, prioritizing immediate fixes over long-term strategies, can undermine urban development sustainability by overlooking future risks and root causes, leading to temporary, costly, and ineffective solutions.
Poorly designed low-income neighborhoods in South African cities result in overcrowding, inadequate infrastructure, and persistent informality, necessitating costly interventions without addressing the root causes.
Siloed Efforts: Inefficiency in government interventions is often due to a lack of coordination between sectors, leading to misaligned policies, duplicated resources, and missed synergy opportunities. This fragmentation can undermine urban governance and hinder the delivery of essential services. To overcome inefficiencies, collaboration, streamlined communication, and integrated planning frameworks are needed.
Lagos' flooding problem is exacerbated by poor coordination between city, state, and federal agencies. This leads to duplicated efforts, inconsistent waste collection, and uncoordinated urban expansion. This fragmentation worsens flood risks and delays emergency responses. Integrated flood management frameworks and shared data platforms are needed to improve resilience.
Ignoring Nature: Urban planning often overlooks nature-based solutions, leading to increased costs and reduced climate resilience. This neglect of natural systems, such as flood control and biodiversity, makes communities more vulnerable and less sustainable.
Dar es Salaam is implementing a "green-gray" approach to enhance resilience against annual floods. This approach combines river restoration and wetland rehabilitation with engineered solutions, a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to hard infrastructure.
Insufficient Investment: Underfunding of resilience initiatives in cities increases vulnerability to future shocks like climate disasters and rapid urbanization, hindering investment in critical adaptation infrastructure, planning, and innovative solutions. This financial shortfall also limits the adoption of digital public goods and nature-based solutions, hindering institutional knowledge building, skilled personnel retention, and resilience efforts continuity.
The $70 million PROVIR project in the Central African Republic (CAR), supported by the World Bank and global partners, has initiated critical investments in resilient infrastructure and nature-based solutions to protect 1.6 million people from future shocks.
Expert Voice
We sought the opinion of Dr. Azizat 'Sola Gbadegesin, Senior Specialist - Climate Change, Energy and Resilience, ICLEI Africa.
On energy access: "Energy access is not just about powering homes. Cities need reliable, clean, and affordable energy to successfully adapt to climate risks, protect vulnerable communities, create jobs, and unlock sustainable development."
On the role of government: "Coordination and collaboration between all tiers of government are crucial in tackling climate and energy issues. The closest level of government that citizens interact with is the local government. Local governments should be an active voice in the room where planning, policymaking, and project implementation take place, and where project sustainability is paramount."
Urban Design Strategy
A well-designed city should strike a balance among various parameters that promote vibrancy, sustainability, and livability. Key factors include diverse land uses, optimal density, connectivity, accessibility, and the integration of open and green spaces for recreation, social interaction, and environmental health.
The well-being of residents is enhanced by safety, comfort, and access to sunlight and views. Social and cultural amenities promote inclusivity and community. Environmental integration promotes sustainability. Economic viability ensures long-term maintenance. City scale is crucial for residents and visitors.
Ultimately, prioritizing quality of life, character, and enjoyment creates urban environments where people can thrive, supporting both active and passive engagement with the city and its amenities.
Moving Forward: Recommendations
Fostering strong collaborations among government, business, and civil society is essential to building resilient, equitable, and sustainable cities. Such partnerships enable a coordinated approach to urban challenges, leveraging diverse expertise and resources. Inclusive and participatory planning must be at the core of urban development, ensuring that the voices of marginalized and vulnerable groups are heard and that potential disadvantages are prevented.
Cities should allocate resources for capacity building, knowledge sharing, and peer learning to exchange best practices and innovative solutions, thereby enhancing their effectiveness. Integrating nature-based solutions and green infrastructure into urban planning enhances climate resilience, improves biodiversity, and provides social and economic benefits.
Innovative financial instruments, such as green bonds and blended finance, can unlock new investments and ensure the continuity of resilience efforts, safeguarding urban communities for generations to come.
- Establish collaborations among government, business, and civil society to achieve a coordinated approach.
- Importance of inclusive and participatory planning to prevent any potential disadvantages.
- Allocate resources towards capacity-building, knowledge-sharing, and peer-learning initiatives among cities.
- Integrate nature-based solutions and green infrastructure into urban development.
- Secure sustainable financing for climate resilience, utilizing both public and private sources.
Final Thoughts: What is Your City Style?
The need for climate-resilient cities in Africa is urgent due to increasing urban populations and intensifying climate threats. Successful cities have demonstrated resilience through collaborative governance, community participation, and the integration of nature-based and green infrastructure. However, success depends on learning from past pitfalls and committing to long-term, adaptive strategies that prioritize the most vulnerable.
African cities can mitigate climate risks by forming partnerships, investing in local capacity, and integrating traditional knowledge and modern technology. The success of cities like Cape Town, Accra, and Durban demonstrates that resilience is a practical goal. The resilience of these cities will depend on the collective efforts of governments, communities, and the private sector.
Each city has its personality. Policymakers, planners, and citizens must ensure that a city's soul resonates with the world while maintaining its ethos. Today’s globalized world calls for that approach. With the right vision and commitment, Africa’s urban centers can become beacons of climate adaptation and sustainable development for the world.
