For many decades, civil society organisations have been instrumental in driving the development a... more For many decades, civil society organisations have been instrumental in driving the development agenda in many parts of the world. In the urban global South, these organisations have championed alternative, transformational and transnational grassroots-led urban development practice. An important dimension of their efforts has involved working with the state to jointly produce urban services and the urban space, an approach termed co-production. While the rapidly growing literature on co-production has applauded the efficacy of the approach, there has been no explicit interrogation of how it is affected by clearly visible divisions within communities and civil society. This paper argues that co-production is implemented within the context of a divided civil society and that success depends to a large extent on how these civil society actors address their internal conflicts to engage with the state as a consolidated community force, able to negotiate while resisting capture by a mani...
Co-production has emerged as a prominent strategy for producing urban spaces, delivering urban se... more Co-production has emerged as a prominent strategy for producing urban spaces, delivering urban services and improving governance in poor but rapidly growing cities of the South. In the field of planning, it has been put forward as a more appropriate approach to what has generally been termed ‘public participation’: a term with its roots in the concept of collaborative planning emerging largely from experience in advanced economies of the West. Co-production has been used in several specific cases to build state-society alliances for community change and socio-spatial transformation. This paper argues that the transformative potential of the co-production approach lies in its ability to drive change at local, city-wide and trans-local scales. We argue that the capacity and ability to institutionalise and scale-up co-production activities depend on the ability of state and society locating and securing their ‘locus standi’ through political alignment, conflict resolution, political ne...
Scarcity of land in the city of Lusaka is resulting into increased land prices and various sector... more Scarcity of land in the city of Lusaka is resulting into increased land prices and various sectors of society are increasingly questioning the extent of transparency and fairness in land administration. This study examines public perceptions of corruption in urban land administration in terms of proneness of land administration processes to corruption, drivers of corruption, and forms of corruption. The study further explores options for reducing corruption in land administration in the city. Data was collected using a questionnaire administered on 265 Lusaka residents. Additional data was also collected from five focus group discussions and five in-depth key informant interviews. Key informants included lawyers, government workers, Zambia Land Alliance, Civic Forum on Housing and lecturers. This study identified 16 stages or process in land administration from making layout maps to title deed issuance. All the processes of land administration were reported to be prone to corruption...
where he completed his PhD studies in Architecture and Planning in June 2016. His research intere... more where he completed his PhD studies in Architecture and Planning in June 2016. His research interests and projects include transforming planning education in Africa, cities and climate change, participatory slum upgrading, planning theory from the South, and urban governance. His is a co-founder and current director of the Centre for Urban Research and Planning at the University of Zambia. AUTHOR BIO Urbanisation is growing in the global South, but urban planning is not keeping up to address the problem of urban growth. Many planning schools in Africa still promote ideas transferred from the global North. (The master plan of Lusaka in Zambia, for instance, was based on the concept of the Garden City, but Garden City for whom?) Most planning schools fail to adequately prepare planning students for the problems they will later encounter in African cities. In order to confront the urbanisation pressures on the continent in all its unique dimensions, fundamental shifts are needed in the way planning schools on the continent prepare planners. Responding to this challenge, the University of Zambia (UNZA) launched a Master of Science degree in Spatial Planning in 2013. Informality and studio-based teaching and learning are major components of the programme. In an effort to raise some of the inherent challenges and benefits of running community-based studio projects in Africa, this study addresses the question: How can planning studio projects contribute to the overhauling of the planning profession in Africa? The paper uses a case study to draw upon the experiences of eighteen master's students who were engaged in a community-based planning studio project in the Lusaka's Kalikiliki informal settlement. The paper concludes that community-based studio projects present an opportunity that has potential for raising the consciousness of planners and enabling them to build on post-colonial, endogenous innovation inspired by cities of the global South.
Data on food supply are scarce, not least due to the strong export focus of Dutch agriculture. Na... more Data on food supply are scarce, not least due to the strong export focus of Dutch agriculture. Nationally, 65% of the food consumed is sourced from Dutch farmers, but little is known about food flows within the country. Based on expert interviews and data from main local food distribution initiatives, it is estimated that agriculture in the Utrecht region provides at most 5% of all the food consumed in the region. The Utrecht region thus plays a minor role as provider of food to its consumers.
This chapter explores opportunities provided by strategic urban planning to mainstream climate ri... more This chapter explores opportunities provided by strategic urban planning to mainstream climate risk considerations into the development decisions of city governments. It does so by describing the ways in which the climate-related information co-produced within the Future Resilience of African Cities and Lands (FRACTAL) project was integrated into the preparation of the Lusaka City Council Strategic Plan 2017–21. The chapter concludes by presenting four lessons emerging from the efforts at integrating climate information into the strategic planning process in Lusaka, Zambia: Lesson (1) Trust and relationships are key to sharing data and information needed to build a compelling case for managing climate risks; Lesson (2) Enable a variety of stakeholders to engage with climate information; Lesson (3) There needs to be an enabling legal, policy and financing framework; Lesson (4) Prepare to meet resistance; skilled intermediaries and city exchange visits help.
where he completed his PhD studies in Architecture and Planning in June 2016. His research intere... more where he completed his PhD studies in Architecture and Planning in June 2016. His research interests and projects include transforming planning education in Africa, cities and climate change, participatory slum upgrading, planning theory from the South, and urban governance. His is a co-founder and current director of the Centre for Urban Research and Planning at the University of Zambia. AUTHOR BIO Urbanisation is growing in the global South, but urban planning is not keeping up to address the problem of urban growth. Many planning schools in Africa still promote ideas transferred from the global North. (The master plan of Lusaka in Zambia, for instance, was based on the concept of the Garden City, but Garden City for whom?) Most planning schools fail to adequately prepare planning students for the problems they will later encounter in African cities. In order to confront the urbanisation pressures on the continent in all its unique dimensions, fundamental shifts are needed in the way planning schools on the continent prepare planners. Responding to this challenge, the University of Zambia (UNZA) launched a Master of Science degree in Spatial Planning in 2013. Informality and studio-based teaching and learning are major components of the programme. In an effort to raise some of the inherent challenges and benefits of running community-based studio projects in Africa, this study addresses the question: How can planning studio projects contribute to the overhauling of the planning profession in Africa? The paper uses a case study to draw upon the experiences of eighteen master's students who were engaged in a community-based planning studio project in the Lusaka's Kalikiliki informal settlement. The paper concludes that community-based studio projects present an opportunity that has potential for raising the consciousness of planners and enabling them to build on post-colonial, endogenous innovation inspired by cities of the global South.
Kampala is Uganda's capital city and is one the fastest growing cities in the world. Over 60% of ... more Kampala is Uganda's capital city and is one the fastest growing cities in the world. Over 60% of the city's urban population live and work informally. In 2002, the Ugandan Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development attended the World Urban Forum in Kenya, where he met with the international president of Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI), Jockin Arputham. The Minister requested the support of SDI to mobilise the residents of Kampala for settlement upgrading. Following this invitation, the SDI president, with Federation members from South Africa and India, visited Kampala. This visit resulted in the signing of an agreement to enable community residents and the state to jointly improve the living conditions of people in informal settlements in Kampala. This marked the beginning of a new form of state-society relations, called co-production. These relations have grown, evolved and progressively matured over the years. This evolutionary case study asks how co-production engagements in the City of Kampala provide empirical support for an enhanced theoretical framework in planning which contributes to ideas of state-society engagement in the cities of the global South. Drawing on poststructuralist theory and cases of co-production, a conceptual framework provides the theoretical basis to examine how service delivery and city planning under coproduction are shaped by power and rationalities that occur at the interface between state and society. This study draws on key proponents of the case study method. Primary data and information were collected, using semi-structured interviews. Document analysis and observations were used to supplement the interview processes and data. The findings were analysed and then used to engage with the theoretical materials in order to write back to theory and then generate theoretical prepositions on planning theory and co-production as an interventive planning framework. Key findings show that communities and civic groups used tools of enumerations, exchange visits and savings to assert their claims and demands, as well as to advance and secure their survival assets and systems. The study reveals complex multifaceted and dynamic power struggles and matrixes within and between structures of the state in the implementation of various co-production initiatives and relations. The state displays and relies on incoherent legal and policy positions, acts informally and operates between old and new ways of engaging with communities. The study further reveals tension points, reversals and the 'holding back' of state power during encounters of state, networked and multiple community power bases that have strong and influential claims to urban space, materialities such as land, trading spaces, informal livelihood systems, place and belonging. The narratives show that community is segmented v and conflicted, with individuals and civic groups straddling the divide between state and societal spaces. The combination of organised community resistance and collaboration led to 'quiet encroachment' to shift state positions on development regulations and to disrupt and refine states' schemes of community intervention to become open and more inclusive. The conflicting rationalities and deep differences between state agents and communities extend beyond the binary of state and 'community'. The narratives reveal the fragmented nature of the state-formal and informal-and the divisions within and between society and civic groups characterised by the politics of control of space and territoriality, differentiation and belonging. The case study engages with theory to provide an important caution against the limitations of assuming that planning can adopt consensualist processes in the cities of the South. It suggests that co-production offers a more productive and realistic way of approaching state-society engagement in planning, but is also fraught with difficulties that are also present in the wider context within which engagement occurs. Therefore, this thesis also argues that planning in the South should be seen as both a collaborative and conflicted process. In addition, it postulates that there is nothing peaceful about urban life, and that power and conflict are ubiquitous elements that both produce and are a product of the interface between state and society.
As Zambia’s chief administrative centre and a major financial, transportation, and manufacturing ... more As Zambia’s chief administrative centre and a major financial, transportation, and manufacturing hub for the country, the City of Lusaka has become one of the fasted growing cities in Southern Africa. Encouraged by the Chinese government’s ‘going out’ policy, Chinese investment and trade with Zambia have risen dramatically since the 2000s. Chinese investment is increasingly shaping the growth of Lusaka City and its hinterland in significant ways. On the other hand, South Africa as a regional geo-economic power has also amplified its strategic engagement with Lusaka. The paper explores how these two geo-economic powers have shaped the development of the City of Lusaka. Findings show that investments from South Africa into the City are private capital backed and are predominantly in the retail and real estate sectors. Chinese engagement in the city are dominated by large government-related construction projects, which have often been state-backed. Analysing the findings through the le...
Southern African cities face several challenges including management of rapid urbanization, risin... more Southern African cities face several challenges including management of rapid urbanization, rising populations, expanding informal settlements; adequate water and other service provision, and a host of governance challenges. Climate change and variability add a compounding effect to this complex, multi stressor context. Addressing the complexity requires an understanding of urban ecosystems functioning and interactions amongst the built and natural environment (climate) and human systems. In this paper we argue that learning is essential for cities to be resilient to current and future challenges. We profile the Future Resilience for African CiTies And Lands (FRACTAL) project which contributed towards climate resilient development by providing relevant climate information for decision-making at the city regional scale in southern Africa. Following FRACTAL's city-to-city learning approach of sharing good practices, knowledge and experiences framed around transdisciplinary research, the study cities of Harare, Lusaka, Windhoek and Durban conducted city learning exchange visits between 2017 and 2018. We used a mixed methods approach to collect and analyze historical climate and hydrological data and current socioeconomic and development data among the cities. A qualitative, in-depth, case study comparative analysis was used to identify similarities and differences as well as lessons drawn from the learning process during the city exchanges and these were complimented by desktop studies. Results showed water scarcity, large informal settlements, reliance on external water and energy sources, inadequate protection of ecologically sensitive resources and service provision as some of the common complications in the cities. Several lessons and transferable practices learnt from the cities included effective water conservation and waste management and the use of public-private partnerships in Windhoek, community engagements in Durban and Lusaka while lessons on decisive leadership in dealing with informal settlements emanated from Harare's limited informal settlements. Lastly, Durban's Adaptation Charter and integrated climate planning provided lessons for biodiversity protection and mainstreaming
While upgrading approaches have evolved over the years, and often include a focus on improving th... more While upgrading approaches have evolved over the years, and often include a focus on improving the livelihoods of people living in informal settlements, there remains little attention or understanding in the literature of how upgrading can influence the livelihoods of residents in informal settlements. This paper examines the extent to which upgrading can contribute to improvement in economic activities, looking specifically at the case of the Chaisa settlement in Zambia, where various upgrading projects were conducted in recent years. It investigates the extent to which this upgrading has contributed to the establishment and expansion of such home-based enterprises as shops, kiosks, saloons and barbershops, as well as its impact on room renting and on livelihoods generally, and discusses the dynamics underlying these improvements. KeywordS gender / home-based enterprise / informal settlements / livelihoods / Lusaka / upgrading I. IntroduCtIon Informal settlements have become a major feature of the urban landscape in most low-income countries, reflecting the urban dynamics that result when development lags behind rapid urbanization. United Nations (UN) statistics indicate that without significant interventions to improve economic conditions of depressed regions, more than 1.5 billion people will live in slums by 2020. (1) To address the growing challenge of slum formation, many national and city governments, as well as international financial institutions, have had ongoing programmes and interventions aimed at reducing the rate of future slum formation and improving the lives of existing slum dwellers. One such intervention has been slum upgrading. By 2001 the World Bank, for instance, had disbursed over US$ 14.3 billion in shelter lending and upgrading, spread over 278 projects with an average budget of almost US$ 50 million. (2) In addition, such global agendas as the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the subsequent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and most recently the New Urban Agenda (NUA) have seen the formulation of targets focused on addressing the conditions of slum dwellers. The MDGs specifically call for significant improvement in the
established in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and e... more established in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI's strategic research aims to foster a climate-resilient and sustainable food supply; promote healthy diets and nutrition for all; build inclusive and efficient markets, trade systems, and food industries; transform agricultural and rural economies; and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is integrated in all the Institute's work. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components to translate IFPRI's research from action to impact. The Institute's regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support for country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.
For many decades, civil society organisations have been instrumental in driving the development a... more For many decades, civil society organisations have been instrumental in driving the development agenda in many parts of the world. In the urban global South, these organisations have championed alternative, transformational and transnational grassroots-led urban development practice. An important dimension of their efforts has involved working with the state to jointly produce urban services and the urban space, an approach termed co-production. While the rapidly growing literature on co-production has applauded the efficacy of the approach, there has been no explicit interrogation of how it is affected by clearly visible divisions within communities and civil society. This paper argues that co-production is implemented within the context of a divided civil society and that success depends to a large extent on how these civil society actors address their internal conflicts to engage with the state as a consolidated community force, able to negotiate while resisting capture by a mani...
Co-production has emerged as a prominent strategy for producing urban spaces, delivering urban se... more Co-production has emerged as a prominent strategy for producing urban spaces, delivering urban services and improving governance in poor but rapidly growing cities of the South. In the field of planning, it has been put forward as a more appropriate approach to what has generally been termed ‘public participation’: a term with its roots in the concept of collaborative planning emerging largely from experience in advanced economies of the West. Co-production has been used in several specific cases to build state-society alliances for community change and socio-spatial transformation. This paper argues that the transformative potential of the co-production approach lies in its ability to drive change at local, city-wide and trans-local scales. We argue that the capacity and ability to institutionalise and scale-up co-production activities depend on the ability of state and society locating and securing their ‘locus standi’ through political alignment, conflict resolution, political ne...
Scarcity of land in the city of Lusaka is resulting into increased land prices and various sector... more Scarcity of land in the city of Lusaka is resulting into increased land prices and various sectors of society are increasingly questioning the extent of transparency and fairness in land administration. This study examines public perceptions of corruption in urban land administration in terms of proneness of land administration processes to corruption, drivers of corruption, and forms of corruption. The study further explores options for reducing corruption in land administration in the city. Data was collected using a questionnaire administered on 265 Lusaka residents. Additional data was also collected from five focus group discussions and five in-depth key informant interviews. Key informants included lawyers, government workers, Zambia Land Alliance, Civic Forum on Housing and lecturers. This study identified 16 stages or process in land administration from making layout maps to title deed issuance. All the processes of land administration were reported to be prone to corruption...
where he completed his PhD studies in Architecture and Planning in June 2016. His research intere... more where he completed his PhD studies in Architecture and Planning in June 2016. His research interests and projects include transforming planning education in Africa, cities and climate change, participatory slum upgrading, planning theory from the South, and urban governance. His is a co-founder and current director of the Centre for Urban Research and Planning at the University of Zambia. AUTHOR BIO Urbanisation is growing in the global South, but urban planning is not keeping up to address the problem of urban growth. Many planning schools in Africa still promote ideas transferred from the global North. (The master plan of Lusaka in Zambia, for instance, was based on the concept of the Garden City, but Garden City for whom?) Most planning schools fail to adequately prepare planning students for the problems they will later encounter in African cities. In order to confront the urbanisation pressures on the continent in all its unique dimensions, fundamental shifts are needed in the way planning schools on the continent prepare planners. Responding to this challenge, the University of Zambia (UNZA) launched a Master of Science degree in Spatial Planning in 2013. Informality and studio-based teaching and learning are major components of the programme. In an effort to raise some of the inherent challenges and benefits of running community-based studio projects in Africa, this study addresses the question: How can planning studio projects contribute to the overhauling of the planning profession in Africa? The paper uses a case study to draw upon the experiences of eighteen master's students who were engaged in a community-based planning studio project in the Lusaka's Kalikiliki informal settlement. The paper concludes that community-based studio projects present an opportunity that has potential for raising the consciousness of planners and enabling them to build on post-colonial, endogenous innovation inspired by cities of the global South.
Data on food supply are scarce, not least due to the strong export focus of Dutch agriculture. Na... more Data on food supply are scarce, not least due to the strong export focus of Dutch agriculture. Nationally, 65% of the food consumed is sourced from Dutch farmers, but little is known about food flows within the country. Based on expert interviews and data from main local food distribution initiatives, it is estimated that agriculture in the Utrecht region provides at most 5% of all the food consumed in the region. The Utrecht region thus plays a minor role as provider of food to its consumers.
This chapter explores opportunities provided by strategic urban planning to mainstream climate ri... more This chapter explores opportunities provided by strategic urban planning to mainstream climate risk considerations into the development decisions of city governments. It does so by describing the ways in which the climate-related information co-produced within the Future Resilience of African Cities and Lands (FRACTAL) project was integrated into the preparation of the Lusaka City Council Strategic Plan 2017–21. The chapter concludes by presenting four lessons emerging from the efforts at integrating climate information into the strategic planning process in Lusaka, Zambia: Lesson (1) Trust and relationships are key to sharing data and information needed to build a compelling case for managing climate risks; Lesson (2) Enable a variety of stakeholders to engage with climate information; Lesson (3) There needs to be an enabling legal, policy and financing framework; Lesson (4) Prepare to meet resistance; skilled intermediaries and city exchange visits help.
where he completed his PhD studies in Architecture and Planning in June 2016. His research intere... more where he completed his PhD studies in Architecture and Planning in June 2016. His research interests and projects include transforming planning education in Africa, cities and climate change, participatory slum upgrading, planning theory from the South, and urban governance. His is a co-founder and current director of the Centre for Urban Research and Planning at the University of Zambia. AUTHOR BIO Urbanisation is growing in the global South, but urban planning is not keeping up to address the problem of urban growth. Many planning schools in Africa still promote ideas transferred from the global North. (The master plan of Lusaka in Zambia, for instance, was based on the concept of the Garden City, but Garden City for whom?) Most planning schools fail to adequately prepare planning students for the problems they will later encounter in African cities. In order to confront the urbanisation pressures on the continent in all its unique dimensions, fundamental shifts are needed in the way planning schools on the continent prepare planners. Responding to this challenge, the University of Zambia (UNZA) launched a Master of Science degree in Spatial Planning in 2013. Informality and studio-based teaching and learning are major components of the programme. In an effort to raise some of the inherent challenges and benefits of running community-based studio projects in Africa, this study addresses the question: How can planning studio projects contribute to the overhauling of the planning profession in Africa? The paper uses a case study to draw upon the experiences of eighteen master's students who were engaged in a community-based planning studio project in the Lusaka's Kalikiliki informal settlement. The paper concludes that community-based studio projects present an opportunity that has potential for raising the consciousness of planners and enabling them to build on post-colonial, endogenous innovation inspired by cities of the global South.
Kampala is Uganda's capital city and is one the fastest growing cities in the world. Over 60% of ... more Kampala is Uganda's capital city and is one the fastest growing cities in the world. Over 60% of the city's urban population live and work informally. In 2002, the Ugandan Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development attended the World Urban Forum in Kenya, where he met with the international president of Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI), Jockin Arputham. The Minister requested the support of SDI to mobilise the residents of Kampala for settlement upgrading. Following this invitation, the SDI president, with Federation members from South Africa and India, visited Kampala. This visit resulted in the signing of an agreement to enable community residents and the state to jointly improve the living conditions of people in informal settlements in Kampala. This marked the beginning of a new form of state-society relations, called co-production. These relations have grown, evolved and progressively matured over the years. This evolutionary case study asks how co-production engagements in the City of Kampala provide empirical support for an enhanced theoretical framework in planning which contributes to ideas of state-society engagement in the cities of the global South. Drawing on poststructuralist theory and cases of co-production, a conceptual framework provides the theoretical basis to examine how service delivery and city planning under coproduction are shaped by power and rationalities that occur at the interface between state and society. This study draws on key proponents of the case study method. Primary data and information were collected, using semi-structured interviews. Document analysis and observations were used to supplement the interview processes and data. The findings were analysed and then used to engage with the theoretical materials in order to write back to theory and then generate theoretical prepositions on planning theory and co-production as an interventive planning framework. Key findings show that communities and civic groups used tools of enumerations, exchange visits and savings to assert their claims and demands, as well as to advance and secure their survival assets and systems. The study reveals complex multifaceted and dynamic power struggles and matrixes within and between structures of the state in the implementation of various co-production initiatives and relations. The state displays and relies on incoherent legal and policy positions, acts informally and operates between old and new ways of engaging with communities. The study further reveals tension points, reversals and the 'holding back' of state power during encounters of state, networked and multiple community power bases that have strong and influential claims to urban space, materialities such as land, trading spaces, informal livelihood systems, place and belonging. The narratives show that community is segmented v and conflicted, with individuals and civic groups straddling the divide between state and societal spaces. The combination of organised community resistance and collaboration led to 'quiet encroachment' to shift state positions on development regulations and to disrupt and refine states' schemes of community intervention to become open and more inclusive. The conflicting rationalities and deep differences between state agents and communities extend beyond the binary of state and 'community'. The narratives reveal the fragmented nature of the state-formal and informal-and the divisions within and between society and civic groups characterised by the politics of control of space and territoriality, differentiation and belonging. The case study engages with theory to provide an important caution against the limitations of assuming that planning can adopt consensualist processes in the cities of the South. It suggests that co-production offers a more productive and realistic way of approaching state-society engagement in planning, but is also fraught with difficulties that are also present in the wider context within which engagement occurs. Therefore, this thesis also argues that planning in the South should be seen as both a collaborative and conflicted process. In addition, it postulates that there is nothing peaceful about urban life, and that power and conflict are ubiquitous elements that both produce and are a product of the interface between state and society.
As Zambia’s chief administrative centre and a major financial, transportation, and manufacturing ... more As Zambia’s chief administrative centre and a major financial, transportation, and manufacturing hub for the country, the City of Lusaka has become one of the fasted growing cities in Southern Africa. Encouraged by the Chinese government’s ‘going out’ policy, Chinese investment and trade with Zambia have risen dramatically since the 2000s. Chinese investment is increasingly shaping the growth of Lusaka City and its hinterland in significant ways. On the other hand, South Africa as a regional geo-economic power has also amplified its strategic engagement with Lusaka. The paper explores how these two geo-economic powers have shaped the development of the City of Lusaka. Findings show that investments from South Africa into the City are private capital backed and are predominantly in the retail and real estate sectors. Chinese engagement in the city are dominated by large government-related construction projects, which have often been state-backed. Analysing the findings through the le...
Southern African cities face several challenges including management of rapid urbanization, risin... more Southern African cities face several challenges including management of rapid urbanization, rising populations, expanding informal settlements; adequate water and other service provision, and a host of governance challenges. Climate change and variability add a compounding effect to this complex, multi stressor context. Addressing the complexity requires an understanding of urban ecosystems functioning and interactions amongst the built and natural environment (climate) and human systems. In this paper we argue that learning is essential for cities to be resilient to current and future challenges. We profile the Future Resilience for African CiTies And Lands (FRACTAL) project which contributed towards climate resilient development by providing relevant climate information for decision-making at the city regional scale in southern Africa. Following FRACTAL's city-to-city learning approach of sharing good practices, knowledge and experiences framed around transdisciplinary research, the study cities of Harare, Lusaka, Windhoek and Durban conducted city learning exchange visits between 2017 and 2018. We used a mixed methods approach to collect and analyze historical climate and hydrological data and current socioeconomic and development data among the cities. A qualitative, in-depth, case study comparative analysis was used to identify similarities and differences as well as lessons drawn from the learning process during the city exchanges and these were complimented by desktop studies. Results showed water scarcity, large informal settlements, reliance on external water and energy sources, inadequate protection of ecologically sensitive resources and service provision as some of the common complications in the cities. Several lessons and transferable practices learnt from the cities included effective water conservation and waste management and the use of public-private partnerships in Windhoek, community engagements in Durban and Lusaka while lessons on decisive leadership in dealing with informal settlements emanated from Harare's limited informal settlements. Lastly, Durban's Adaptation Charter and integrated climate planning provided lessons for biodiversity protection and mainstreaming
While upgrading approaches have evolved over the years, and often include a focus on improving th... more While upgrading approaches have evolved over the years, and often include a focus on improving the livelihoods of people living in informal settlements, there remains little attention or understanding in the literature of how upgrading can influence the livelihoods of residents in informal settlements. This paper examines the extent to which upgrading can contribute to improvement in economic activities, looking specifically at the case of the Chaisa settlement in Zambia, where various upgrading projects were conducted in recent years. It investigates the extent to which this upgrading has contributed to the establishment and expansion of such home-based enterprises as shops, kiosks, saloons and barbershops, as well as its impact on room renting and on livelihoods generally, and discusses the dynamics underlying these improvements. KeywordS gender / home-based enterprise / informal settlements / livelihoods / Lusaka / upgrading I. IntroduCtIon Informal settlements have become a major feature of the urban landscape in most low-income countries, reflecting the urban dynamics that result when development lags behind rapid urbanization. United Nations (UN) statistics indicate that without significant interventions to improve economic conditions of depressed regions, more than 1.5 billion people will live in slums by 2020. (1) To address the growing challenge of slum formation, many national and city governments, as well as international financial institutions, have had ongoing programmes and interventions aimed at reducing the rate of future slum formation and improving the lives of existing slum dwellers. One such intervention has been slum upgrading. By 2001 the World Bank, for instance, had disbursed over US$ 14.3 billion in shelter lending and upgrading, spread over 278 projects with an average budget of almost US$ 50 million. (2) In addition, such global agendas as the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the subsequent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and most recently the New Urban Agenda (NUA) have seen the formulation of targets focused on addressing the conditions of slum dwellers. The MDGs specifically call for significant improvement in the
established in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and e... more established in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI's strategic research aims to foster a climate-resilient and sustainable food supply; promote healthy diets and nutrition for all; build inclusive and efficient markets, trade systems, and food industries; transform agricultural and rural economies; and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is integrated in all the Institute's work. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components to translate IFPRI's research from action to impact. The Institute's regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support for country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.
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Papers by Gilbert siame