LATE CALL FOR PAPERS
Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting 2016
San Francisco, March 29th – April 2nd
Science, Technology, and Innovation in Sustainable Governance and Management of African Cities
(Sponsored by The Africa Specialty Group)
Issues associated with urban governance and the management of cities on the African continent, and across the entire developing world are somewhat similar, and relate to: systematic inadequacies of governmental policies, weak institutional structures, corruption, poor economic and financial status, poor healthcare and sanitation, inadequate housing, amongst other factors; which hinder the ability of their citizens to attain sustainable livelihoods.
Some of the solutions adopted to tackle these problems in the past were based on policies and practices derived from Western countries with little consideration for contextual disparities. However, there has been a realization for the need to provide purpose-driven contextual solutions - and this has recently become a foci for international development research. Many consider science, technology and innovation (STI), including the African Union (AU), as a necessary ingredient in achieving the continent's long-term development goals. Empirical evidence shows that STI facilitates the application of innovative approaches to gathering and analyzing data necessary to formulate innovative policies. Geospatial data for instance has been used in various ways to identify problems, seek solutions and inform policy with varying degrees of success.
The session seeks to bring together researchers, development practitioners, policy makers, software developers, urban managers, government officials, and aspiring Africanists who engage STI in various aspects of sustainable governance and management of African cities. We welcome papers from a wide range of topics and dimensions including but not limited to: land use, water supply, residential development, resources utilization and access, access, revenue generation, space economy, informal markets, business, solid waste management, the built environment, transportation, cultural preservation, provision of social services, security, urban design and planning, gender relations, rural-urban linkages - to name but a few.
Submission: Interested session participants should register for the meeting, submit an abstract through the AAG website, and send the abstract, including their identification number (a.k.a PIN) by October 25, 2015 (following the AAG guidelines) to: Francis Koti at [log in to unmask] Session organizers are Regan Doyle ([log in to unmask]); Akolade Akiyode ([log in to unmask]),
We will be happy to answer any other questions that you may have.
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