Harnessing urbanisation for risk reduction in sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa’s rapid urbanisation presents opportunities to plan and manage for more resilient and sustainable towns and cities. Although, urban decision makers and risk managers are rising to the
challenge, they need better information on urban risks and more action at the local level. Notably, public
health and disaster risk preparedness and wider management need to come together to tackle the
spectrum of risks. This book draws on the experience and analysis of risk planners, urban managers and
community actors in cities across sub-Saharan Africa. All were partners in the Urban Africa Risk Knowledge
(Urban ARK) programme, see www.urbanark.org for more detail and supporting documents on each
chapter. The aim is to provide insight and experience in breaking cycles of urban risk accumulation by linking
science and policy to produce knowledge and action in an approach we call ‘co-production’. Risk reduction
innovations are developed to contribute to the knowledge of how to make sub-Saharan African cities
and towns more resilient and sustainable.

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