Reflections: Asia and Africa in Conversation — Cities, Migration & Climate Change
Cities in Asia and Africa stand at the forefront of critical global discussions. The pressing theme of climate injustice and urban migration was featured in an inter-continental dialogue with scholars from East Africa and South Asia. The event was our inaugural annual lecture, held on January 23, 2024 in Nairobi, in partnership with the Aga Khan University. Dive into this blog for our key takeaways and summary from this event.
By Samuel Hall team
T he nature and form of urbanisation has been changing rapidly in recent years, with Africa and Asia showing the highest rates. It is speculated that due to the ongoing demographic shifts and growth of the world’s population, there will be about 2.5 billion more people added to the urban population by 2050, mainly in Africa and Asia (India, China and Nigeria accounting for 35 per cent of the projected growth). According to UNHCR, more than 60 percent of the world’s refugees and 80 percent of internally displaced people are sheltering in cities. Upon return, the migrants and the urban environment are affected by the urban fabric and its evolution.
What happens when the forces of climate change collide with the intricate dynamics of urban migration in the bustling cities of Asia and Africa?
This critical question underpinned our inaugural annual lecture, a collaboration between Samuel Hall, Aga-Khan University GSMC, and the ISMC. Bringing East Africa and South Asia into the conversation, our inaugural annual lecture helped us put into context the related dynamics of climate, cities and mobility as seen by specialists who have been working in these regions.
Our keynote speaker focused on thermal (in)justice, and extreme heat’s impact on urban dwellers, including migrants, to prompt us to think about the role of urban planning in building sustainable cities and inclusive environments.
At Samuel Hall, our research has an urban bias and promote an inclusive development approach. Our recent projects advocate for a world without camps, for access to protection, jobs and services in cities, and peri urban areas, which we watched rising in the countries where we work, without adequate planning.
Our speakers: Professor Nausheen Anwar from the Karachi Urban Lab; Peter Kasaija from Makerere University and Dr Sanaa Alimia from ISMC; took us through multiple spaces and places, and spoke to one common experience: understanding and building human tolerance and endurance to the challenge of climate change in cities, and from the perspective of migrant populations. It was also fundamentally a day dedicated to climate justice and to imagining urban futures — talking about places and populations impacted by the effects of the biggest polluters in the world, with disproportionate impacts on local populations.
This convergence of urban migration and climate change is more than an environmental crisis; it’s a matter of social equity, public health, and resilience. Find the full recording of the video here and four key take-aways below:
1. Heat and thermal suffering are political
Understanding Thermal Injustice with Professor Nausheen Anwar
Are cities in Asia and Africa prepared to navigate the challenges of extreme heat?
Extreme heat is now affecting one-tenth of Earth’s land area, with an eightfold increase in record-breaking hot months over the past decade, and ensuing deaths and bodily harms. The IPCC Working Group II Sixth Assessment Report has underscored that increasing heat and humidity will create conditions that test human tolerance.
Professor Anwar’s lecture titled ‘Thermal (In)Justice & The City: Some Reflections on Living and Surviving the Anthropocene in Nairobi and Karachi’ delved into how extreme heat and urban planning interplay in the unique contexts of both these cities, underscoring the urgency of addressing impacts of climate change in our cities.
Heat is largely understood in terms of temperature or as a disembodied and apolitical thing with no history and detached from lived experiences embedded in the built environment. However, for ordinary citizens living in cities like Karachi and Nairobi, experiences of heat or thermal suffering are bodily, intimate, and political. This is where the concept of Thermal Injustice comes in.
Thermal injustice refers to the disproportionate impact of extreme heat on vulnerable communities, often due to inadequate infrastructure and resources. This injustice is not merely a product of climatic conditions but is rooted deeply in social and political structures — impacting the interconnected food-livelihoods-water-energy-health systems.
Heat as an institutionally sanctioned form of violence
Professor Nausheen Anwar’s keynote speech underscored how rising temperatures aggravate social inequalities, particularly in informal settlements and refugee camps where water scarcity and inadequate housing and ventilation amplify the detrimental effects of heat. This is a consequence of poor and oftentimes, intentional urban planning — which can result in adverse cognitive, sensory, psychological, and emotional outcomes.
An illustrative example of this was observed in Karachi during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents confined indoors reported feeling intense heat, more so than the outdoor temperatures, despite the absence of a heatwave.
Miles away in Africa, children today are four times more likely to experience heat waves than those born in the 1990s, a statistic that underlines the heightened vulnerability of future generations. In regions like East Africa, heat exposure is anticipated to increase at double the rate of Europe, signalling a future where the challenges of thermal stress and droughts are more pronounced than ever.
The issue extends beyond mere exposure to high temperatures; it’s about how heat is weaponized through urban structures. The intersection of water scarcity, inadequate ventilation, and limited access to electricity increases the risks, leading to higher mortality rates that disproportionately affect individuals across different races, genders, and ages.
The Right To Cooling
Professor Anwar emphasised that addressing thermal injustice requires a fundamental shift in urban planning. This involves ensuring equitable access to cooling amenities, green spaces, and sustainable housing, with a particular focus on the needs of marginalised communities.
2. Thrive, Not Just Survive: Understanding Refugees’ Urban Negotiations with Peter Kasaija
How can we develop inclusive strategies that effectively address the challenges of thermal injustice, ensuring that our urban spaces are equitable and resilient for all residents?
In his insightful contribution to the discussion on urban displacement, Peter Kasaija delved into the multifaceted experiences of refugees in Arua City, Uganda. Drawing from his proposed chapter for the upcoming book “Displacement Urbanisms,” Kasaija explored the themes of endurance, extraction, expulsion, exhaustion, and extinction, critically analysing the diverse survival strategies of refugees who move from formally gazetted camps to urban settings.
Kasaija’s narrative, deeply rooted in personal stories of refugees in Arua City, examined how both “new” and “older” refugees negotiate and navigate the myriad challenges they face. His focus was particularly on their efforts to build stable and decent livelihoods amidst the susceptibility to climate-induced extremes, such as heat and cold waves. Despite these vulnerabilities, these refugees often remain overlooked in local, formal planning processes.
The Right to City — Refugees as Active Agents of Change
Within the urban landscape, the recognition of refugees by the government is often limited to those in Kampala and designated camps. This policy overlooks cities like Koboko, where over half the population consists of refugees, significantly influencing its development and evolution. In such environments, refugees find themselves navigating a complex reality of being marginalised or ‘othered’ by mainstream society.
These communities, however, are not passive in their urban existence. In Arua city, for example, Congolese and South Sudanese refugees actively create and sustain their social networks, linguistic, and cultural traditions, forming diverse and dynamic communities. Their diverse experiences and backgrounds contribute towards a rich, multifaceted urban character that is far from homogeneous.
Lacking access to quality housing increases their vulnerability to heatwaves and other extreme weather conditions. This reality raises important questions about the risks and stresses associated with thermal injustice.
Refugees also often carry the burdens of past traumas, such as conflicts, which continue to influence their daily lives and resilience in their new urban settings. The materiality of their displacement — a constant reminder of their past — can impact their psychological well-being.
Navigating Endurance & Survival
Endurance, in this context, is not just about survival; it’s about navigating the complex interplay between displacement and marginalisation. Through their survival and endurance, both “new” and “older” refugees imprint their aspirations on their localities over time, challenging the perception of refugees as mere victims of circumstance. Kasaija argued for the recognition of these spatialities as a “continuum of in-place space making and habitation.” This perspective invites a radical transformation in research, policy, and action to address displacement’s challenges for more equitable urban futures.
3. Navigating Legal Precarity & Urban Planning Failures with Sanaa Alimia
In the challenging contexts of protracted displacement, refugees and undocumented migrants are notably vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This vulnerability is not merely a result of urban planning oversights but is deeply rooted in the broader issue of legal integration. Non-citizens often find themselves subject to structural violence, remaining in a precarious legal status that exacerbates their plight.
How do these legal and urban planning challenges exacerbate the plight of refugees and migrants in the face of climate change?
Professor Alimia, the author of “Refugee Cities: How Afghans Changed Pakistan” delves into the effects of legal precariousness on vulnerable populations — sharing the lived experiences of low-income Afghan refugees and Pakistani citizens residing in informal housing areas in Pakistan.
This exploration raises critical questions about how legal challenges and urban planning shortcomings intensify the difficulties faced by refugees and migrants, particularly under the strain of climate change. Reflecting on Nausheen Anwar’s keynote lecture on “thermal (in)justice,” Professor Alimia’s talk draws on testimonies from these vulnerable groups, highlighting their struggles with thermal inequalities during cold weather. These populations, especially refugees and undocumented migrants, endure severe thermal injustice, a reality that stems from both urban planning failures and legal integration issues.
The Bias of Urban Planning
Professor Alimia emphasises that thermal suffering is not an apolitical issue. It is a deeply personal, bodily experience intertwined with broader political contexts. She advocates for recognising thermal justice as an inalienable human right. Her research reveals an ideological bias in urban planning. Reports of refugees succumbing to extreme temperatures serve as a grim reminder of the consequences of their spatial positioning by governments and the failure to integrate them into society. These deaths are not just incidents of weather extremes but are the outcomes of long-standing patterns of war and colonial legacies.
Moreover, Professor Alimia critiques the international regime’s complacency with the status quo, where providing basic necessities like food and blankets is deemed sufficient, rather than implementing essential structural changes. This approach fails to address the fundamental disparities in how different populations experience thermal dynamics. Refugees, often relegated to the peripheries and rural outskirts, lack access to basic amenities, including electricity. In stark contrast, better infrastructure is found near formal settlements, where the reality of cold weather is romanticised due to access to heaters and blankets.
The plight of refugees and their legal vulnerability raise essential questions about the meaning of integration and entitlements. Legal status significantly influences the rights and resources available to an individual, underscoring the need for a more inclusive and empathetic approach to urban planning and legal frameworks.
Beyond Borders, Beyond Labels
We also organised a photo exhibition ‘Beyond Borders, Beyond Labels’ with powerful photos from Mo Amin & Malcolm Muga to capture the unchanging reality of migration & displacement. People have always migrated & will continue to do so, driven by climate change, conflict, or the pursuit of a brighter future. These photographs do more than just expose the challenges faced by refugees & other migrants; they offer a window into their lives, livelihoods, hopes & dreams. They encourage us to see beyond labels, beyond borders.
Following the insightful lectures, we were captivated by the screening of ‘The Sound Man,’ a documentary that chronicles the journey of Abdul Ramadhan, the renowned soundman for the legendary photojournalist Mo Amin as they report from the frontlines.. This engaging film set the stage for a panel discussion on the power of media in shaping perspectives.
Leading the dialogue was Salim Amin, Chairperson of Camerapix, who delved into the significant role of photography and media in capturing and conveying authentic and ethical narratives and the mental toll of covering conflict. The discussion with Samuel Hall co-founder, Hervé Nicolle further explored the power of innovative and participatory research methodologies, like the Dreams Methodology showcased in our photo exhibition.
