- Convenors:
-
Gabriel Cyrille Nguijoi
(Ministry of Scientific Research and InnovationNational Institute of Cartography, Cameroon)
Victorine Ghislaine Nzino Munongo (Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation)
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- Chair:
-
Aristide Chimanye Motio
(Université de Yaoundé II Soa)
- Discussant:
-
William Bikok Som
(Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development)
- Format:
- Paper panel
- Stream:
- Gendered, generational & social justice
Short Abstract
This panel explores how African cities can rethink governance to enhance security, promote inclusive participation and shape resilience, by strengthening local agency. It critically examines how innovative governance empowers vulnerable urban residents to resist both internal and external shocks.
Description
Drawing on empirical settings from Nairobi’s community policing to participatory housing improvements in Accra, passing through climate infrastructure planning in Durban, contributors will provide governance reforms that centre local agency and community-led solutions that align with the African Union’s Agenda 2063’s aspirations.
Essentially, the panel reflects on how African cities are not only innovating, but also reclaiming epistemic influence. Urban governance reforms can challenge colonial legacies in knowledge production and planning, offering alternatives on development. The panel also interrogates whether urban development as a socio-political framework still strengthens power hierarchies, or whether local innovations are transcending its limitations to reimagine development on more equitable and locally rooted terms.
Link to Conference Theme:
This panel responds directly to the DSA 2026’s theme in the sense that, it explores how African cities reconfigure governance via local agency, epistemic equality and climate resilience. It challenges top-down paradigms and narratives, and highlights plural governance practices and justice-driven urban futures.
Session Organisation:
Papers Proposal
We encourage papers and contributions to critically examine:
- Participatory planning and community-driven resilience strategies;
- Decentralisation and local leadership in enhancing urban security and responsiveness;
- Case studies from African and Global South cities illustrating adaptive governance and bottom-up agency;
- Intersection of urban governance with climate adaptation, migration, and informality;
- Decolonial analyses of urban planning and knowledge production;
- Digital technologies, surveillance, and data justice in urban governance…
This Panel has 1 pending
paper proposal.
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