Mobilising sustainable global alternatives through African cities

Professor Susan Parnell, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol

UCT hosts: Professor Edgar Pieterse, African Centre for Cities; and Professor Frank Eckardt, Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Cape Town

Programme dates: Dec 2023 - Dec 2026

 

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals hinges in large measure on what happens next in Africa’s cities, making this a priority research area. ‘Mobilising sustainable development goals through African cities’, explores urban sustainability across local, national and global scales. Working with scholars based at the African Centre for Cities at UCT, the project aims to strengthen arguments for making Africa a stronger priority of global urban policy and has several linked research and advocacy elements:  

• identifying global, national and local governance imperatives to adapt African cities to new climate and health challenges;   

• tracing the recent rise of Africa in the global urban agenda e.g., through the G7 and G20 and other multi-lateral processes;  

• preparing for 2030 by viewing the sustainable development goals from urban Africa;    

• reinforcing the importance of the role of African scientific and political leadership in building a sustainable vision for urban Africa.