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The impact of urban development on risk in sub-Saharan Africa's cities with a focus on small and intermediate urban centres

Satterthwaite, D; (2017) The impact of urban development on risk in sub-Saharan Africa's cities with a focus on small and intermediate urban centres. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction , 26 pp. 16-23. 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.09.025. Green open access

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Abstract

The main urban issue that sub-Saharan Africa is facing is rapid growth in its urban population without the urban governance structures in place that can meet their responsibilities and manage the change. This has created very large deficits in infrastructure and service provision which exposes much of the urban population to high levels of risk. Without competent, effective and accountable urban governments, it is not possible to tap the great potential that cities have for supporting good living conditions and good health. This paper examines both the scale of urban change and the development challenge facing sub-Saharan Africa's urban areas and the possible implications on risk. It describes how a substantial proportion of sub-Saharan Africa's national (and urban) population lives in small and intermediate size urban centres (and thus not in rural areas or large cities) and considers what we know about risk in these urban centres and the implications for development. The paper suggests that within the region's urban population, inadequacies in provision for basic infrastructure and services are usually larger, the smaller the urban centre. Most small urban centres in the region have local governments with very little capacity or funding to fulfil their responsibilities for risk reducing infrastructure and services. Of these, the inadequacies in provision for water and sanitation are the best documented. But in some instances, provision for water and sanitation is so poor in large cities that the proportion of their inhabitants lacking adequate provision is as high as those living in small urban centres.

Type: Article
Title: The impact of urban development on risk in sub-Saharan Africa's cities with a focus on small and intermediate urban centres
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.09.025
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.09.025
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2017 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/).
Keywords: Urban change, Urban risk, Small urban centres, Local government, Infrastructure, Services
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Development Planning Unit
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10044728
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