Potentials for Sponge City Implementation in Sub-Saharan Africa

verfasst von

Anna Thoms, Stephan Köster

Abstract

Despite the growing interest in implementing sponge cities (SPC), their potential is not yet being tapped in many fast-growing Sub-Saharan African cities. This is remarkable because SPC interventions can contribute considerably to increasing water safety and availability in a city. By means of a three-stage potential assessment, this study provides the first analysis of what concrete options can be identified for implementing the SPC concept in Sub-Saharan cities. The methodology was filled with information obtained especially from expert interviews, literature reviews, and satellite imagery. Thus, the analysis also considers what obstacles impede SPC implementation, and, in particular, what technical and socioeconomic constraints need to be taken into account. The cities of Hawassa (Ethiopia), Beira (Mozambique), Kigali (Rwanda), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), and Cotonou (Benin) are examined in detail. Additionally, a local SPC implementation was conceptualized and evaluated for two districts in Ouagadougou and Cotonou. The first finding is that, when geographical and socioeconomic aspects such as climatic patterns, migration flows, health risks, and existing infrastructure are sufficiently taken into account, SPC interventions would massively help African cities to mitigate current and urgent challenges such as water scarcity and urban flooding. In terms of water safety, the second key finding is that rainwater harvesting solutions at the household level could be implemented quickly; however, there would be substantial difficulties such as lack of financing and maintenance as well as claims of ownership, especially in informal settlements and slums. Thus, it seems quite promising to directly strive for a rapid “centralization” of SPC implementation in individual neighborhoods. This neighborhood approach paves the way for SPC measures to receive public acceptance and constant maintenance. When this mosaic of implementations comes together, many individual instances of SPC implementation can help to improve urban resilience and living conditions for the city dwellers as is here demonstrated for the districts in Cotonou and Ouagadougou.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Siedlungswasserwirtschaft und Abfalltechnik

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Sustainability (Switzerland)

Band

14

ISSN

2071-1050

Publikationsdatum

19.09.2022

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Informatik (sonstige), Geografie, Planung und Entwicklung, Erneuerbare Energien, Nachhaltigkeit und Umwelt, Bauwesen, Umweltwissenschaften (sonstige), Energieanlagenbau und Kraftwerkstechnik, Hardware und Architektur, Computernetzwerke und -kommunikation, Management, Monitoring, Politik und Recht

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 3 – Gute Gesundheit und Wohlergehen, SDG 6 – Sauberes Wasser und sanitäre Einrichtungen, SDG 7 – Erschwingliche und saubere Energie, SDG 11 – Nachhaltige Städte und Gemeinschaften, SDG 13 – Klimaschutzmaßnahmen

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811726 (Zugang: Offen)