Green Infrastructure for Climate Adaptation in African Cities

Rethinking urban green infrastructure and ecosystem services from the perspective of sub-Saharan African cities

“…Evidence suggests that GI relevant typologies can be constructed and used to delineate appropriate land units for analysis (Lindley et al, 2015). However, the complex and heterogeneous nature of African development (Lupala, 2002;Mosha & Mosha, 2012) mean that many zones are in practice 'mixed', especially when applied to intermediate 'neighbourhood' scale geographies across large cities.…”

“…However, the complex and heterogeneous nature of African development (Lupala, 2002;Mosha & Mosha, 2012) mean that many zones are in practice 'mixed', especially when applied to intermediate 'neighbourhood' scale geographies across large cities. For some of the five African cities analysed in (Lindley et al, 2015), characterisation using Urban Morphology Types resulted in some very large zones and difficulties in distinguishing between urban and rural. In addition, there is the issue of availability of appropriate, contemporary data at sufficiently high resolution and lack of access to appropriate resources and capacities locally to undertake data analysis in the frequencies required to generate updates to match the rapid state of flux in many African urban areas, particularly where urban sprawl results in large increments in the physical sizes of cities (Seto, Guneralp, & Hutyra, 2012).…”

Green infrastructure indicators for urban planning: applying the integrated approach for Russian largest cities

“…However, in most cases there are still quite a few natural areas within the city borders in Russia that actually continue to exist as self-sustaining ecosystems. Sometimes, this phenomenon is found in some other cities, particularly in Africa and South America: Rio-de-Janeiro (Illarionova 2018), Dar-es-Salaam (Lindley 2015), Caracas (Werner 2011). Our method offers a convenient way to assess whether measures directed at the formation of a comfortable urban environment are developed proportionally to the measures for green infrastructure sustainability improvement.…”

Rethinking sustainable cities: Accessible, green and fair

“…Recent attention to the challenges facing cities in poorer regions has increased markedly in recent years as the urgency of taking action and prioritising interventions in resource-scarce contexts has become more evident. Such analyses and policy agendas are increasingly focusing on the potential contributions of restored and conserved ecosystem services, including 'soft engineering' and diverse forms of urban greening within integrated strategies to reduce vulnerability, enhance resilience and promote urban transformation (for example, Birkmann and von Teichman, 2010;Carmin et al, 2012;Cartwright et al, 2012;UNEP, 2012;Bulkeley and Tuts, 2013;Silver et al, 2013;Birkmann et al, 2014;Friend et al, 2014;Kernaghan and da Silva, 2014;Adelekan et al, 2015;Cartwright, 2015;Lindley et al, 2015;Simon and Leck, 2015). One particular socio-technical approach to addressing these related urban sustainability challenges is represented by eco-cities, smart cities and smart grids (see below).…”

“…What these perspectives share is a concern to demonstrate the importance of well-functioning urban nutrient and other cycles and hence to imbue them with positive value for planners and decision-makers as well as ordinary residents, not least in relation to DRR and ecosystem-based climate change mitigation and adaptation (Plate 3.5). Although often challenging, this is seen as the best way to argue for their conservation, enhancement and expansion (for example, Ten Brink, 2011; Gómez-Baggethun and Barton, 2013;Van Zoest and Hopman, 2014;Elmqvist et al, 2015;Lindley et al, 2015;Luederitz et al, 2015).…”