Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
7
and CoproduCtion
in urban Flood-risK
management
The case of Dar es Salaam
Trond Vedeld, Wilbard Kombe, Clara Kweka Msale and
Siri Bjerkreim Hellevik
introduction
African coastal cities are highly vulnerable to climate risks such as floods, but they
also have high potential for reducing risks and enhancing resilience, provided
they are well governed. The worst affected are typically the urban poor, who
tend to live in informal settlements or 'slums' - along rivers, in low-lying coastal
zones or in former marshlands.
The study reported here was designed as an in-depth study of how urban
flood-risk management is integrated in multilevel governance, flood risks being
considered a local manifestation of climate risks. Based on interviews with
local and central decision-makers, we analyse the structure and processes and
challenges of multilevel governance of flood risks across the territory of Dar es
Salaam, a typical large coastal city in Africa.
The focus is particularly on the capabilities of the city municipality as regards
vertical steering and coordination
and how multilevel governance (as prescribed and
practised) serves to enable or obstruct high citizen participation in planning and
input into local management of flood risks and coproduction. We wished to
learn more about how urban authorities facing extreme financial constraints and
various urban development challenges have started to integrate adaptation in
policy and governance when these authorities are not even able - or willing - to
meet a set of basic service demands, such as for drainage, piped water, low-cost
housing and other services. Hence, we focus on how key
social dimensions
are
tackled, and how these relate to potentials of adaptation and resilience.
Given the multiple challenges facing urban authorities, the empirical data
collection focused on the integration of adaptation in three key sectors and
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