Urbanisation


Th​e EAC has seen an unprecedented increase in infrastructural development throughout the region. While necessary to sustain a rapidly increasing population, the heightened urban development impacted by economic inequality has resulted in large areas of informal settlements coupled with unchecked planning and burdening old infrastructural mechanisms. Added to this is the encroachment into what were traditional wildlife and agricultural areas resulting in a rise in human-wildlife conflict, increase in food-miles that in turn drive-up costs and decimation of many natural water catchment areas. 

Within this programme area falls the rising need to establish new economies to complement the youth bulge. The programme focus is intended to facilitate a better understanding of the key issues underlying the emerging creative economy at the national and regional levels.  Research will be undertaken with a high level of cross-sector consultation and collaboration.

The programme areas will focus on the following:

  • The provision of spaces for the various population segments

  • Access & provision of health, education and security systems per locale

  • There is need for a paradigm shift in conservation policy toward spatially connected, inter-dependent parks and reserves to ensure long-term ecological integrity and viability of wildlife populations; examination of acquisition of portions of wildlife migration corridors currently under private ownership or public infrastructure. 

  • Implementing trans-boundary management of parks and reserves will require novel policy, legal and institutional regimes to coordinate multiple stakeholders including governments, national wildlife authorities and private/communal interests.

  • Formulation and advocacy of policy strategies that recognize the interdisciplinary nature of the elements of the creative economy (economics, social, business, cultural and environmental dimensions)

  • Pragmatic policymaking that enables recognition and understanding of the diverse community of creative economy stakeholders, how they relate to each other and how the creative economy interfaces with other sectors of the economy

  • Formulation of policies for the creative economy that are responsive to interests and demands from local communities for education, cultural identity and social inclusion, and environmental concerns