Why public engagement is key to improving urban planning in Africa
来源:World Economic Forum;发表于:2022-02-23;人气指数:464
Why
public engagement is key to improving urban planning in Africa
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/africa-cities-covid-climate-public-urbanization/
A new approach is
needed for urbanization in Africa.
Image:
REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
24 Jan 2022
Patrick Brandful
Cobbinah
Senior Lecturer, The
University of Melbourne
*Factors such as slum
proliferation, haphazard development and traffic congestion are causing
urbanization in Africa to be unsustainable.
*Research indicates
poor public interest and participation in urban planning due to limited
education.
*A new approach to
urban planning is needed to restore hope in African cities.
*Planning visibility,
local knowledge and involvement, and integration of the vulnerable are
important for urban planning.
African cities are
rapidly urbanising and already experiencing considerable negative
impacts of urbanisation. The production of urban spaces in African cities
is frequently characterised as unsustainable.
This is due to
factors such as slum proliferation, haphazard development and traffic
congestion. And also because of evolving socio-economic activities associated
with urban spaces, like unregulated informal activities and increased poverty.
This situation is compounded by global health pandemics such as COVID-19 and
climate change. These are predisposing African cities to increased
vulnerability, including flood events.
Urban planning has
been identified as having the capacity to support sustainable urban development
in African cities. It can foster healthier environments and lifestyles. It can
create healthy and resilient cities. Yet, it has also been blamed for adding to
urban problems. It does so through neglect, segregation and non-participation.
If the purpose of
urban planning is for human and planetary health, then why not adequately
engage with it to address urban development problems in African cities? In a
recent paper I argue that citizen engagement is key to improving the
way Africa’s cities are planned.
Troubled history
The history of urban
planning in Africa indicates that it was introduced during colonisation to
address health problems in cities. It was a highly specialised technical
activity performed by experts from Europe. There was little or no involvement
of the cities being planned for. Decisions were largely an imposition of
colonial ideals.
While it produced
some benefits, such as addressing sanitation concerns, it was also used as a
colonial tool of domination and control. It contributed to spatial and economic
segregation.
In Ghana, urban
planning was used to develop the resource-rich south while the north was left
undeveloped. Similarly, in South Africa, urban planning was used during apartheid to
create spatial segregation.
After independence
there was hope of reform. But unfortunately, colonial urban planning
legislation and practices were adapted in post-colonial Africa to cope with the
implications of burgeoning urbanisation, with limited practical reforms.
Today, most African
cities are faced with the dilemma of developing more functionally integrated,
spatially coherent, economically competitive, environmentally sustainable and
socially inclusive urban environments. In the shadow of rapid urbanisation,
what has emerged is unplanned and unregulated city growth and expansion, and
with it increased poverty.
Major urban planning
conflicts revolve around haphazardly growing informal settlements. These are
characterised by poor sanitation services, congestion and ramshackle housing, often
surrounded by indescribable filth. These unplanned and unserviced communities
house nearly three-quarters of Africa’s urban population.
New approach needed
Yet effective urban
planning still seems an appropriate way to address these many urban development
challenges in African cities. Especially in this era of urbanisation, climate
change and increasing urban poverty.
In theory, urban
planning should lead to the creation of much needed socioeconomic
opportunities, both locally and nationally. At the same time it should provide
a strong incentive to manage nature’s strongholds in a way that conserves them.
In reality, though,
urban planning practices remain relics of colonisation. They are elitist and
demonstrate limited inclusiveness.
Colonisation, rapid
urbanisation and limited resources are often identified as contributing to poor
urban planning. A new approach to urban planning is needed to restore hope in
African cities.
There is limited
focus on urban planning education among urban residents. There is limited
public knowledge on what planning is and what benefits it offers. Similarly,
research indicates poor public interest and participation in urban planning due
to limited education.
My paper discusses
three guidelines to improve planning knowledge among residents. These can help
change the urban planning narrative on the continent.
Three keys to a
better future
1. Visibility
Poor visibility of
urban planning is a major hurdle. Many ordinary residents in African cities do
not know the value or purpose of urban planning. Agencies and city authorities
should urgently improve urban planning visibility through mainstream and social
media platforms.
For example, regular
social media posts on the practice of urban planning in African cities can
increase public knowledge. Mainstream media can support in educating the public
on the importance of urban planning in local languages. A conscious engagement
of local religious and tribal leaders on key issues can increase the knowledge
levels and acceptance of urban planning in African cities.
It is only when urban
residents understand urban planning that meaningful outcomes can be achieved.
2. Local knowledge
Urban planning in
African cities remains exclusionary. It is an act of the elites and practice of
the professionals, with limited involvement of urban communities. This
encourages apathy among residents. It puts them at the receiving end of
whatever plans that evolved.
Valuing local
knowledge and inputs in urban planning processes and practices means involving
and respecting urban residents in all dimensions of urban development. It means
reflecting community orientation in all its complexity. Especially those in
informal settlements who often do not have an organised voice.
Valuing local
knowledge and inputs in urban planning promotes transparency and accountability
through collaboration. This is essential in addressing ongoing and emerging
development issues such as climate change that affect all sectors of the urban
economy. These sectors include social, economic, institutional, cultural,
financial, environmental and physical or spatial components of the urban
economy.
3. The vulnerable
It’s important to
identify and integrate vulnerable stakeholders and sectors in urban planning
practice. This will improve public knowledge in two ways.
Firstly, it will
ensure that all stakeholders receive adequate attention and become aware of
urban planning capacity. Particularly the interests of weaker and vulnerable
urban residents (like the elderly, the disabled and children) are often
overlooked. Secondly, it will ensure adequate consideration for all sectors of
the economy, including the informal sector, and will contribute to improved
preparedness towards addressing critical challenges of climate change, urban
poverty and rapid urbanisation.
Addressing issues of
rapid urbanisation, climate change and persistent urban poverty in African
cities may lie in the involvement of residents and their support for inclusive
urban systems. Residents support for, and understanding of urban planning would
contribute to inclusive and spatially integrated cities, and would provide
sustainable and efficient living and working environments.
Without strong
resident support and involvement, African cities may continue to prove highly
problematic and undesirable for habitation in the future.