Resilient African cities

If you have been following the urban discussion (and you should if you live in a city!), there has been a strong push for cities to be resilient. That is, for cities to create measures that allow them to recover from severe shocks or everyday, negative stresses. This is because cities have become autonomous states from the countries within which they are located . We hardly speak of USA anymore, at least not as much as we speak of New York, never UK but London, in fact there are people out there who don't know Dubai is in the UAE. But the question is not where cities are autonomous but whether or not they are protected from the issues that plague them as they grow and become global powers.

After the terrorist attack of 9/11 in New York, followed by a number of other natural disasters in Asia during a decade that was sadly ended with the global economic crash in 2008, the greater powers in the urban community realised that something needed to be done. Effects on cities were causing negative ripples to countries and even entire regions. Cities especially key global cities, needed to develop resilience much in the same way as human beings, and thus the rise of the urban resilience discourse. Disasters come in many shapes and sizes, economic (the global crash 2008), environmental (the current drought in East Africa), technological (the Fukushima nuclear meltdown of 2012), social (political movement of Egypt, 2011).

So what does this have to do with Mama Africa? The world forces are shifting towards the 'global South'. Africa has risen to the world stage and we have started to question the theories we have been taught and practiced for decades, and as such African cities have joined the emerging urban discussion. African cities, according to my limited experiences have a distinctly different character from many cities in the North. However, there are still planned based on Northern cities. This mismatched planning practice has been the basis of several vulnerabilities that we face. As such, African cities cannot sit on the sidelines while the theory is developed for them.

Although the cities are still affected by some of the same shocks and stresses as Northern cities, they have vulnerabilities that are created by their peculiar character. The open market places of food and clothes and everything really, the informally neighbourhoods, our strong connection to religion and community, the internal security issues, our unique political systems, our ridiculous transport systems, and on and on. All these aspects have to be taken into account when thinking on how we can strengthen the urban fabric. We, as planners, academics and politician have to think through how each person is made more resilient to ensure that the whole is resilient.

This shouldn't be that difficult. The problem may only arise if generic solutions are applied to cities that face distinctively different problems. This is a real danger as many policies have been developed around a copy paste standard from other places. This unfortunately cannot be our outlook to the real vulnerabilities we face. But were not going to do that, are we? We have to put in the work to ensure our cities survive for future generations to enjoy. Not the pretend work that is used to appease politicians and not the one that paints pretty flowers in the desert but real work that aims at understanding the threads that weave our fabric. How has terrorism affected Nairobi? How has xenophobia changed the way business is done in Cape town? What vulnerabilities does Lagos face being an oil producing city? What course of action should be taken to ensure African cities rise up to global standards? How do we shape global standards? These are the basic questions we should start addressing even as we discuss cyber security and likelihoods of flooding and cloud bursts.

The discussion is just beginning in Africa with Dakar releasing the first resilience strategy on the continent this year. It is an amazing time for us to shape how we understand ourselves and define what is important to us and our citizens. We need to do better for ourselves, we need to raise critical questions on the world stage and provide plausible answers. We just need to be Africa, in our best selves.