Getting urban density to work in informal settlements in Africa

Visagie, Justin; Turok, Ivan

doi:10.1177/0956247820907808

Cited by 42 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…cities into slums and central business districts to spatially allocate plastic emissions of HCl, as the use of plastic is concentrated in low-cost and informal settlements. This then accounts for the distribution of informal settlements within cities, as is the case for many cities in Africa (World Bank, 2016;Visagie et al, 2020). This spatial allocation is limited to plastic emissions of HCl only, which are relatively minor in comparison to the other activities.…”

Section: Estimating Emissions From the Charcoal Industry In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Air Pollution and Climate Forcing of the Charcoal Industry in Africa

Bockarie

Marais

MacKenzie

2020

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Demand for charcoal in Africa is growing rapidly, driven by urbanization and lack of access to electricity and other reliable and clean off-grid energy. Charcoal production and use, including plastic burning to initiate combustion, release large quantities of trace gases and particles that impact air quality and climate. In this work, past (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014) trends in charcoal production and use in Africa are quantified and the dominant drivers identified to forecast the future (2030) of the industry. An inventory of current (2014) and future (2030) emissions from the charcoal supply chain in Africa has also been developed and implemented in the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model to quantify the contribution of charcoal to surface concentrations of PM2.5 and ozone, and direct radiative forcing due to aerosols and ozone. Charcoal production (and use) increased from 2000 to 2014 in Africa by a factor of 2. In 2014, the charcoal industry required 140-460 Tg fuelwood, depending on efficiency of combustion, to produce charcoal and 260 tonnes plastic for charcoal use to initiate combustion. The variability in wood required is due to variability in combustion efficiency of 9-30% that depends on kiln type and technology. The plastic use is an educated guess in the absence of statistics on its use and is most prevalent in low-income homes. A rough estimate of forest loss suggests that by 2030, 4.4-15 million hectares of forest will be lost in Africa due to charcoal production. By 2030, charcoal production will almost double which will drive a similar increase in emissions from the industry. Charcoal production makes a substantial contribution to CH4 emissions in Africa. These may outcompete CH4 emissions from open fires in West Africa by 2025. As expected, inefficient combustion emissions of CH4, NMVOCs, and CO are predominantly from charcoal production, whereas BC and NOx, signatures of efficient vTABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .

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Section: Estimating Emissions From the Charcoal Industry In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Air Pollution and Climate Forcing of the Charcoal Industry in Africa

Bockarie

Marais

MacKenzie

2020

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…The household survey data and the outcomes of the quantitative analysis highlight that areas with high urban densities also have greater proportions of tenants, more overcrowding, and lower levels of access to water and sanitation. However, the relation between property prices, location, and urban density of informal settlements in Sub-Saharan Africa remains under-researched [37]. Accordingly, further studies are needed to validate the hypotheses formulated in this paper.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

A Fine-Grain Multi-Indicator Analysis of the Urban Form of Five Informal Settlements in East Africa

Mottelson

Venerandi

2020

Urban Science

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Few studies have investigated the urban morphology of informal settlements at fine-grain level, limiting effective urban planning and policies targeting such areas. This study presents a high-resolution morphological analysis of five informal settlements located in central areas of major cities in East Africa. The analysis is based on indicators of urban form, statistical comparison, and field interviews on household conditions. The method improves the replicability and increases the spatial granularity compared to previous studies. Outcomes show that all case studies are characterised by organic street layouts. Three settlements form a comparable group with denser urban fabrics (small block size, high coverage ratios, and small private spaces), while the remaining two cases have less compact forms. The field interviews show high rates of tenancy, overcrowding, and inadequate access to water and sanitation in the first group and low rates of these conditions in the second group. We suggest that these differences are partially an outcome of levels of informal land supply. We argue that decreased informal land supply leads to increased competition and higher prices of accommodation, leaving fewer household resources for infrastructure investments and consequent compromised livelihoods. Accordingly, we argue that some modes of informal urban development should be accepted in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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“…But higher population densities may not translate into well-being. Yet, research has demonstrated that densification in Global South cities can produce creative productivity and prosperity (see Bardhan et al 2015b, Brown 2017, Kshetrimayum et al 2020, Visagie & Turok 2020. A prominent characteristic of Southern cities is the concentration of population in informal settlements.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

�We need ground space�: urban densification and transitional housing in Ethiopia

Sunikka-Blank¹,

Abdie²,

Bardhan³

2021

JBA

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Like many countries of rapid urbanisation, Ethiopia has an acute low-income housing shortage. Ethiopia�s Integrated Housing Development Programme (IHDP) can be seen as an attempt to innovate low-income housing provision. Over 200,000 IHDP units have been built since 2005. Drawing from a Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) survey in Amhara region, this article asks how the transition to high-rise has affected household practices and energy use. The POE survey shows low satisfaction among the residents, despite energy access and sanitary facilities. The new built environment compromises and contradicts established cultural practices, reducing the residents� well-being compared to previous living in more informal settlements where the dwelling had direct access to outdoor space and community. This means that the residents tend to view IHDP housing as transitional, disincentivising improvements in the environment or social networks. Further, the loss of ground connection causes domestic and cultural practices to move indoors, increasing energy demand and reliance on appliances. This paper argues that high-rise as the only typology for mass housing should not go unchallenged. If it is the only option, design standards should not be left open to interpretation by the developer and regulations should ensure adequate design, such as dual aspect, flexibility and privacy in floor plans, and design and designation of outdoor spaces. The findings question the idea of modernisation of housing as a linear process and challenge the literature on the compact city model as �the� paradigm for sustainable cities in Southern urban practice.

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Getting urban density to work in informal settlements in Africa

Cited by 42 publications

References 56 publications

Air Pollution and Climate Forcing of the Charcoal Industry in Africa

Air Pollution and Climate Forcing of the Charcoal Industry in Africa

A Fine-Grain Multi-Indicator Analysis of the Urban Form of Five Informal Settlements in East Africa

�We need ground space�: urban densification and transitional housing in Ethiopia

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