Urban Resilience as an Option for Achieving Urban Sustainability in Africa

Abstract

Global commitments reflected in the UN SDGs, the NUA and the Africa Urban Agenda 2063 bring to the fore the challenges facing twenty-first century cities in their sustainable development efforts, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Yet are African cities prepared to respond to global shocks and stresses? Do African cities consider resilience principles in their urban governance and planning efforts? What are the issues arising from urban governance? Using Ghana as a case study, this chapter examines changing approaches to urban resilience and the planning and management experience. Consideration of the resilience philosophy in Ghana’s urban governance is limited as compared to developed and other developing countries because of: limited planning and management agency capacity in implementing resilience principles; rapid urbanisation contributing to unplanned and informal settlements; and severe impacts of climate change. The forces of rapid urbanisation and climate change constitute the main threat to urban sustainability in Ghana, magnified by the weak urban planning and management regimes within the fragile and evolving local urban governance system. Policy considerations are discussed concerning urban resilience in twenty-first century SSA.