Planning and Climate Change in African Cities: Informal Urbanization and ‘Just’ Urban Transformations

Abstract

The proliferation of informal settlements and growing risks of climate change across African cities pose core questions to urban planning theory and practice. Where do informal settlements fit into future climate adaptation plans? What constitutes a ‘just’ climate transformation for African urbanization? And how does a ‘just’ climate transformation address the concerns of Africans in informal settlements? We conduct a literature review to highlight the importance of local, community-based knowledge production and action in addressing African urbanization and climate change. We show how informality and climate change impact each other across diverse African cities and conduct a detailed case study based on Accra, Ghana. We argue that national and global approaches to planning for urbanization and climate change are required to strengthen local community-based knowledge production and action.