This was the second of three events in support of the Call to action on sustainable urbanisation in the Commonwealth.
Informal settlements make up over 54% of the urban population in Africa, with profound consequences in terms of health and well-being, prosperity and environmental impact, plus the fact that retrofitting infrastructure is three time more expensive. In Lusaka, Zambia, an urbanisation plan is needed to better target investment in critical infrastructure and services, upgrading informal settlements to provide for the most vulnerable residents. But how do policy makers make informed decisions and quickly?
Working with the International Growth Centre and Commonwealth Association of Architects, Ordnance Survey produced detailed data in a few weeks, so that policy makers could start to ensure a more resilient urban future for Lusaka and its residents. The participants also discussed tools that can help nations measure their progress against SDGs and help with their resilient recovery from COVID-19.
This event was attended by over 125 participants from over 34 countries.
Chair: Andy Wilson, Region Director, Africa, Ordnance Survey, UK
Opening and closing remarks: Peter Oborn, Senior Vice President, Commonwealth Association of Architects
Framing presentation: Juliet Ezechie, Head of International, Ordnance Survey, UK
Panellists:
- Dennis Chiwele, International Growth Centre, Zambia
- Lt Col Francis Ngabo, Chief Executive Officer, Rwanda Space Agency, Rwanda
- Meembo Nchimunya Changula, Principal Planner – Forward Planning, Ministry of Local Government, Zambia
Key messages
- Challenges in informal settlements are very complex and take different forms: physical, political, cultural and environmental. A combination of many factors need to be tackled.
- Informal settlements are the product of a series of wider problems. Governments require detailed data and at a more granular level to inform city, regional and national policy. It is critical to have an understanding of the challenges at the neighbourhood or even property level.
- Data has to come from many different stakeholders, using existing data where possible but also understanding the need to collect new data, and looking at new ways to collect data in order to achieve evidence-based policy.
- The importance of having time series data rather than just looking at today’s data, so that trends and changes can be identified over time, and potentially looking at using real time data. Having both allows one to measure the effectiveness of policy over time.
- It is vital to measure success by how interventions are making a difference to citizens and their health and welling. The measurement of targeted interventions to improve infrastructure in informal settlements is also critical to mitigating the informal nature of the settlements.
- It is important to use academic research and knowledge to inform the political agenda, the policy measures and the inventions and actions.
- The significance of partnership in achieving success, as demonstrated by the Lusaka Informal Settlements Project. No one organisation can tackle these challenges on their own; a combined effort across multiple stakeholders, both in the public and private sector, is required to achieve success.
