To help identify and support more sustainable urbanization pathways, SEI Africa is developing a research programme on Managing Urban Change.
The study reviews existing SEI expertise on urban issues and identifies the existing and potential research areas and partners that SEI Africa should concentrate on as it develops this new programme.
The study mapped SEI projects on urban issues through web-based research and SEI’s project monitoring and evaluation and communication (PMEC) system. The authors also researched potential partners working on urban sustainability issues in Africa, and did a literature review of urban project-related materials and publications on urbanization in Africa. This was complemented by interviews with SEI’s leaders of urban projects and with SEI partners involved in urban issues in sub-Saharan Africa. The study was carried out between October 2014 and April 2015.
Three key findings emerged from the study. First, SEI has diverse expertise in sustainable urbanization. Second, external partnerships appear to have been prioritized over cross-centre collaboration. Third, there are some knowledge gaps in SEI’s work on sustainable urbanization. For example there has been little or no research in a number of important geographical regions, for example in Central and West Africa.
The authors make four key recommendations on the design and focus of SEI Africa’s Managing Urban Change programme:
The programme will also serve as a platform for strengthening existing partnerships and forging new ones with local and international partners and experts involved in urban sustainability challenges in sub-Saharan Africa.
Download the working paper (PDF: 1.5 MB)
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