Incorporating sustainability into development plans in selected African cities

Abstract

Cities have the task of delivering critical services to residents with limited financial resources while challenged by the effects of climate change. African cities are vulnerable to floods, and water and energy insecurity due to insufficient capacity and poor infrastructure for stormwater drainage. Furthermore, environmental sustainability projects cannot be successfully implemented by cities unless they are systematically integrated into their operations and management. According to recent reports, two-thirds of the cities in sub-Saharan Africa are categorized as "at extreme risk" of experiencing the impacts of climate change. This poses a serious threat to crucial local infrastructure and systems required for development. Mitigation and adaptation to climate change cannot be addressed through a single economic sector as it has impacts across the board on all aspects of social and economic development. In addition, development without consideration of environmental sustainability can sometimes increase climate change vulnerability. Hence there is a need to mainstream environmental sustainability into all development policies, programmes, and plans. This research study evaluated the way in which selected African cities had incorporated environmental sustainability into their development plans and evaluated their success and challenges. The research study employed a qualitative approach that entailed thematic content analysis and used the OECD mainstreaming framework to assess the extent of integration of environmental sustainability considerations into development plans. To assess the level of integration of environmental sustainability into the development plans for the selected cities, five categories were used. These five categories were based on the literature review and the OECD mainstreaming framework. The categories were: 1) address environmental concerns through projects and programmes in the development plan; 2) allocate resources to environmental sustainability projects, either through the municipal budget or external funding; 3) implement environmental sustainability projects and programmes; 4) inform and influence decision- makers through awareness-raising, stakeholder engagement, and meetings; and 5) monitor and evaluate the impact of implemented projects and programmes. The research findings show that a number of the selected African cities have been more successful than others in incorporating some dimensions required for mainstreaming ii iii environmental sustainability into their development plans. Additionally, the findings suggest that there are impediments to incorporating environmental sustainability into development plans, but when the identified enablers are present, this incorporation can be more effective and successful. Overall, the research findings indicate that some dimensions required for environmental sustainability mainstreaming are weakly included while others are effectively incorporated into development plans by the selected cities.