Climate Resilience Policy Integration into Urban Planning in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

African cities face increasing environmental degradation and climate change, compounded with rapid growth and expansion of informal urban settlements. The expansion of these settlements must happen with climate change in mind, to ensure long term residence and public health. A better understanding of decision-making and governance dynamics that shape urban climate policies can help address this challenge. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is one of few African cities that is developing strong urban climate policy initiatives, which makes it an excellent case study to investigate the governmental decision making that underpins such policy.

Driven by this opportunity, this study will focus in particular on the cross-sectoral, horizontal policy integration of climate resilience policies in Addis Ababa, using a qualitative case study approach. It will look at how two recent initiatives in the city are integrated across sectors at the urban level, and what narratives and stakeholders shape their implementation. The outcomes generated by this study not only will help the integration of robust and equitable climate resilience policies into urban planning in Addis Ababa, but also have the potential to convey valuable teachings to cities across the continent that face similar developmental challenges.