Urban resilience in climate change hotspot

Abstract

Past and ongoing research shows that African cities remain one of the vulnerable zones of climate change, yet the least prepared. With an expected increase in climate change impacts coupled with rapid urbanization in African cities, this paper inquires: what if more attention is devoted to urban planning in the efforts towards addressing climate change issues and building resilient urban futures in Africa? Using available and relevant literature and Ghana as a case study, it argues that it is about time African cities begin to address climate change through urban planning. This paper anayzes the unexplored potentials of urban planning in addressing issues of climate change in the continent, and makes recommendations for the engagement of urban planning in developing resilient African cities.