RHD_AfURiv2020 - African Urban Complexities and the Governance Challenges of Urban Rivers – a Systemic-Relational Inquiry

In Africa, urban river systems are often significantly degraded and recent empirical evidence suggest the accumulation of new pollutants such as macro- and microplastics in such river systems (Grimm et al 2000). However, healthy urban rivers can contribute to and support sustainable urban development through the supply of desired and valued ecosystem services (MEA 2005; Wangai et al. 2017). In this project, we argue that if African urban rivers are to be on an ecologically sustainable path, then, a new approach that recognises the complexity of the interconnectedness and dynamic interactions between social and ecological systems within African urban landscapes, is required. Our just concluded research in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in South Africa and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria focuses on three key components of the concept of urban complexity in relation to urban river ecology and governance challenges i) the imperative for developing multi-dimensional (ecological, social and economic) integrative indicators of urban river health ii) institutional integration failure (i.e. silo operation) as a key governance challenge and iii) the complex interactions and linkages between urban river health and people social-economic well-being on river catchment.