Planning a new urban research programme for SEI Africa

The document assesses SEI's global urban research portfolio to identify strengths and gaps that can be leveraged for a new programme in sub-Saharan Africa. It finds that while SEI has diverse expertise across 64 projects, there is a lack of cross-centre collaboration and significant research gaps in Central and West Africa, as well as in specific areas like urban solid waste management and green infrastructure in the Global South. The report recommends replicating successful global projects in Africa and expanding research into under-studied regions and strategic themes such as urban governance and inclusive cities.

• As of April 2015, SEI had conducted 64 urban projects across Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the U.S., and Europe, covering 12 research areas.
• SEI's urban research activities are categorized into three main types: scientific research and knowledge development, policy engagement, and capacity development.
• Internal collaboration between SEI centres is limited, with fewer than 10 of the 64 identified urban projects being cross-centre collaborations, indicating a preference for external partnerships.
• There is a significant geographic imbalance in SEI's sub-Saharan African research, which has focused primarily on East and Southern Africa, with very little work conducted in Central and West Africa.
• The study identified several critical knowledge gaps in SEI's urban portfolio, including a total lack of projects focused primarily on urban solid waste management in any region.
• Other identified research gaps include a lack of studies on urban water use in Africa, Europe, and North America, and a lack of green infrastructure research in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
• SEI has limited research on urban greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, abatement potential, and climate vulnerability assessments within Asia, Latin America, and Africa, as most of this work has been concentrated in North America.
• Sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest urbanizing continent, with an annual urban growth rate of 3.6 per cent, double the global average.

APA

Muhoza, C. (2015). Planning a new urban research programme for SEI Africa. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WP-2015-12-SEI-Urbanization-review.pdf

Chicago

Muhoza, Cassilde. Planning a new urban research programme for SEI Africa. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2015. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WP-2015-12-SEI-Urbanization-review.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Muhoza |first1=Cassilde |title=Planning a new urban research programme for SEI Africa |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=November 2015 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WP-2015-12-SEI-Urbanization-review.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{muhoza2015planning, author = {Muhoza, Cassilde}, title = {{Planning a new urban research programme for SEI Africa}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2015}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WP-2015-12-SEI-Urbanization-review.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }