Issue

Vol. 47 No. 4 (2022): Africa Development

7 - Localising the SDGs in African Cities: A Grounded Methodology

https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v47i4.2981
Omar Nagati
Architect and Urban Planner, Co-founder, CLUSTER, Cairo
Hanaa Gad
Architect and Community Development Leader, CLUSTER, Cairo
Amin Ali El-Didi
Architect and Researcher, CLUSTER, Cairo
Jacob M. Kihila
Senior Research Fellow, Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5097-5461
Elinorata Mbuya
Research Fellow, Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam
Emmanuel Njavike
Research Assistant, Dar es Salaam
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5005-9551

Corresponding Author(s) : Omar Nagati

onagati@gmail.com

Africa Development, Vol. 47 No. 4 (2022): Africa Development

Abstract

This article’s starting point is the recognition that urban Africa faces a set of
economic, social, political and infrastructural challenges sufficiently specific to
its context to warrant its own (hitherto modest) repertoire of the Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) localisation roadmaps. Drawing on field-based
comparative research across Cairo and Dar es Salaam, and focusing on SDG
6 (water and sanitation) and SDG 11.2 (mobility), the article develops a
research methodology that helps to detect fissures between the general SDG
framework and microscopic realities on the ground in African cities. Although
each of the two cities has a specific set of urban realities and development
paradigms, the paper develops a localisation process that is applicable across
both geographies (and beyond) based on the similar prevalence of urban
informality in African cities, which the current SDG framework insufficiently,
or at times inaccurately, factors in. The methodology comprises three key
components: 1) a top-down policy analysis of SDG responses at national and
city levels; 2) grounded field research of local practices at a neighbourhood
level; and 3) revising the SDG targets and indicators through a proposed
‘Toolkit for Localising’.


 

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) localisation of SDGs global South informality citizen science water and sanitation mobility
[1]
Nagati, O., Gad, H., El-Didi , A.A., Kihila , J.M., Mbuya , E. and Njavike , E. 2022. 7 - Localising the SDGs in African Cities: A Grounded Methodology. Africa Development. 47, 4 (Nov. 2022), 157–184. DOI:https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v47i4.2981.
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Author Biographies

Jacob M. Kihila , Senior Research Fellow, Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam

Jacob Kihila holds a PhD degree in Environmental Science and Engineering from the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Tanzania a MSc degree in Environmental Technology and Management and BSc degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He currently works with the Institute of Human Settlements Studies of Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania as a Senior Research Fellow. His particular research interests include water reuse, energy and nutrient recovery, wastewater treatment and climate change. He has published more than 8 articles in a peer reviewed journals and has served as a reviewer for a number of articles.

Emmanuel Njavike , Research Assistant, Dar es Salaam

Registered Valuer, Estate Agent and Researcher at MyDalali Estate Agency and PropertyLAB Tanzania.

Mr. Njavike worked as a Coordinator and Research Assistant at Ardhi University on CityLab activities conducted research on urban infrastructure, formal and informal interface as well as localizing Sustainable Development Goals at the city scale.

He has expertise in coordinating field research activities including training enumerators before data collection, supervising the application of surveys and data entry activities.

Graduated with Bachelor's Degree in Land Management, He is currently concluding his Masters's in real estate at Ardhi University.

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