TITLE:
Hallmark of a Resilient City: Adoption of Green Infrastructure in African Cities
AUTHORS:
Elias K. Maranga
KEYWORDS:
Resilient Cities, Green Infrastructure, African Urbanization, Ecosystem Goods and Services, Environmental Externalities, Sustainable Urban Ecosystems, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.11 No.1,
January
29,
2021
ABSTRACT: Dynamic urbanization of African cities has created
development trajectories that face systemic challenges in the provision of
sustainable and ecologically resilient urban environments. The specific
challenges include extensive unregulated growth with informal settlements
reflecting poor service levels and high poverty indices, inadequacy in provision of basic services in health, water,
housing, transport and communication
infrastructure, high reliance on biomass fuels, exposure to environmental stress and implausible climate change coping and
mitigation mechanisms among others. Review of extensive literature and synthesis of existing bodies of knowledge on the
ecological and management perspectives of urban environments revealed many gaps
and understanding of urban transformation processes. The purpose of this review
was to contextualize credible pathways for optimization of both ecosystem goods
and services from green urban landscapes (Green infrastructure) and non-green
infrastructure to ensure sustainable and ecologically resilient urban
environments. Attempts were made to rationalize and validate through
discussions the benefits of managed urban ecosystems for African cities. On the basis of the evidence from the
literature, it is concluded that urban development trajectories that do not
embrace multifaceted approaches that deliberately retain and maintain green
infrastructure in the urban environment may not be cost-effective. It is
recommended that systematic integration of urban forestry concepts in urban
planning that involves communities, local and national governments, business
entrepreneurs and public and private
research institutions provides tenable frameworks for addressing current and
future challenges of urbanization in Africa.