Most local governments in sub-Saharan Africa have, in recent times, come under intense pressure to prepare and adapt to peri-urbanism and climate-related risks. The need for addressing spatial planning integral with urban expansion and densification is no

Keywords: Climate-induced disasters, recovery, marginalisation; social justice
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 49

Abstract

Most local governments in sub-Saharan Africa have, in recent times, come under intense pressure to prepare and adapt to peri-urbanism and climate-related risks. The need for addressing spatial planning integral with urban expansion and densification is not only because the effects of climate variability are becoming more severe and more prominent, but also because the outcomes of the cities’ unplanned development makes indispensable needs for adaptation amidst inadequate resources. These concerns are expressed at local governance level, where stakeholders’ priorities tend to focus on the gap between adaptation needs and existing adaptation efforts. Drawing insights from our studies in peri-urban Accra, which combine citizens’ personal experiences with peri-urbanism and academic and practitioner perspectives, we show how decisions constructed around flooding events, people’s actions, and planning processes are seldom neutral but significantly exclusionary in their effect. We infer how the prioritization of actions to adapt to flooding influences the social groups' support and their agency and capacities to recover. In conclusion, we call for increased attention to how urban planning can be creatively moved towards more informed, inclusive, and supportive recovery visions and processes in response to the unplanned peri-urbanism and climate-exacerbated flooding in their quest for social justice for all.