The Status of COVID-19 and African Cities | Dr. Keziah Mwanga.

African cities account for over 50% of the regions GDP. Since the pandemic hit the globe, urban areas have been the epicenter of COVID-19 with over 95% cases. Cities are mostly affected because as we know they are the gateway from other continents. Looking at the structure of African cities there is a lot of concentration of risks due to the congestion in our cities.The limitation in infrastructure whether in health or physical infrastructure also puts cities at a higher risk of infections. Measures that have been taken by various governments to curb the virus spread, have escalated adverse social-economic impacts.

So, what does this mean when it comes to resilience of cities ?
Look out for more perspectives in the next video.

Seminar Series 1: Cities and Resilience
'Cities of the future: Pathways to a resilient African city beyond COVID-19'
Date: September 3rd 2020 Time: 14:00-16:00pm (EAT) Venue: Zoom

Background
COVID-19 has presented unprecedented challenges, and opportune moments for city development. The pandemic has had implications on the social setting, the economic status, the ecological environment, and the policy and regulation scapes of urban societies. The nature of what might emerge in terms of city resilience particularly in the African context is speculative at best, but one which requires an understanding of what has been (based on current evidence), what is desired (resilient city imaginaries), and the necessary (disruptive) socio-technical, economic, and policy actions for future African Cities.

This seminar series is part of the preparatory seminars organised around the three conference themes: Climate Action and Sustainable Energy; Cities and Resilience; Science Technology and Innovation. The themes are critical areas for Africa’s transition to sustainable developed economies in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The overall output of the preparatory seminars and the main conference (The ARIN International Conference ‘Africa in the Post-COVID-19 World: Lessons for Research and Policy’) is a book volume titled ‘Africa in the Post-COVID-19 World: Lessons for Research and Policy’ that will be edited by Prof. Mark Pelling & Dr. Joanes Atela.

Partners;
A systems approach to Air Pollution (ASAP) East Africa
Governance-of-Socio-Technical-Transformation (GoST)
Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF)
Tomorrows Nairobi