Developing a participatory approach to building a coalition of transdisciplinary actors for healthy urban planning in African cities - a case study of Douala, Cameroon

Figures & data

Table 1. Typology of stakeholders identified for the workshop

Stakeholders	Organization
National Policymakers	Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
	Ministry of Public Health
	Ministry of Environment
	Ministry of Water and Power Resources
	Ministry of Home Affairs
Professions and Practitioners	Real Estate and Land use
	Planners
	Architect Professionals Organisation
	Social housing
Local authorities / Technocrats	Douala Urban Council
	Ministry in charge of Decentralization
	Municipalities
	Land management
Academia	University of Douala (Geography)
	University of Yaoundé I (Geography)
	University of Yaoundé II (Law and Political Sciences)
Non-governmental Organisations	Land use
	Waste recycling
Private sector	Waste management

A summary of practical strategies, proposed by local stakeholders through groupwork activity, to address identified urban health risks through urban planning in Douala, Cameroon.

Figure 1. Process of co-designing the workshop within the framework of a transdisciplinary research.

Figure 2. Perspectives of participants on integration between health and human settlement sectors in Douala.

Figure 3. Perspectives of roles of health professionals in urban and territorial planning.

Figure 4. Perspectives on challenges to integrating health in urban and territorial planning.

Table 2. Human settlements challenges identified for Douala Municipalities A–D

	Municipality A	Municipality B	Municipality C	Municipality D
Basic services
Sanitation & waste management	Sewage Drainage Waste management	Poor sewage treatment Household waste Poor industrial waste treatment	Degraded basic services Drainage challenges Poor water & waste management
Access to potable water	Drinking water cost & access Poor quality wells & boreholes			Supply crisis of potable water
Health services	Lack of disease surveillance Lack of awareness initiatives on hygiene & sanitation	Poor state of sports & leisure equipment	Poor access to public healthcare services & centres	Insufficient public health services
Urban planning
Mobility	Mobility challenges Degraded secondary & tertiary roads	Poor road network infrastructure
Food	Proliferation of markets in uncontrolled areas	Low purchasing power of households		Food insecurity
Natural environment	Poor protection of mangrove from development		Pollution	Vulnerability to natural hazards
Housing	Proliferation of informal areas	Spontaneous housing Lack of low-cost housing	Occupation of slums	Uncontrolled land occupation (slums)
Urban disorder and land use	Uncontrolled use of sidewalks for markets Poor enforcement of land use regulation	Disordered development Disregard for environmental degradation Urban sprawl	Ignoring of laws by population Disordered occupancy of land and sanitation Non-compliance with planning rules Inadequate land ownership records	Land access crisis
Urban insecurity (safety)	Reinforcement of security Better public lighting
Public behaviour
Social behaviour	Poor hygiene of food vendors Illegal sale of drugs	Lack of community action to take measures to prevent degradation	Unhygienic household waste disposal Disordered garbage dumping

A summary of the common urban challenges relevant to the context of human settlements in Douala, Cameroon; identified by local stakeholders through groupwork activity represented by theme across the four Douala municipalities.

Table 3. Strategies proposed by participants to address urban health risks identified

Government action to:

Improve the drainage of drains and gutters

Implement pre-collection of waste directly from homes, with the use of polythene bags to mitigate the challenge of urban waste.

Develop a local waste management policy to address household waste, and the recycling of waste material

Improve management of urban roads

Enforce planning norms for the construction of new houses, especially in new developments

Implement strategies to overcome physical safety, such as establishing anti-gang committees for community defence, and improved street lighting.

Reinforce the municipal police and the implementation of fines to address urban disorder

Encourage individual public action through campaigns:

To raise public awareness of sanitation and household waste management

On public competitions for the cleanest neighbourhood or area.

For laws around land use and land occupation

On urban cleanliness

Encourage collective public and private action through:

Community committees in charge of urban hygiene, especially around public market areas

Building good quality wells as alternative water sources

Informal sale of sachet water by private businesses

A summary of practical strategies, proposed by local stakeholders through groupwork activity, to address identified urban health risks through urban planning in Douala, Cameroon.