TY - JOUR

T1 - Potentials for Sponge City Implementation in Sub-Saharan Africa

AU - Thoms, Anna

AU - Köster, Stephan

N1 - Funding Information: The publication of this article was funded by the Open Access Fund of the Leibniz Universität Hannover.

PY - 2022/9/19

Y1 - 2022/9/19

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - African urbanization

KW - climate change

KW - flood protection

KW - green infrastructure

KW - rainwater harvesting

KW - sponge city

KW - Sub-Saharan Africa

KW - urban growth

KW - urban planning

KW - urban rainwater management

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85138853465&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/su141811726

DO - 10.3390/su141811726

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85138853465

VL - 14

JO - Sustainability (Switzerland)

JF - Sustainability (Switzerland)

SN - 2071-1050

IS - 18

M1 - 11726

ER -