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Zooming Regions into Perspective

Climate Change, Resilience, and Settlement Planning Systems

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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures

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Abstract

This chapter is informed by literature and document review and content analysis. The chapter draws on the recent tropical cyclonic disasters that have been associated with most African countries leading to loss of property and human lives. These recent events have seen rural dwellers succumb largely to the impacts of natural occurrences following the disasters. The chapter recognizes that the disasters are artificial albeit linked to anthropogenic activities. The chapter observes that the existing infrastructure in the affected area is not adaptable enough to deal with the environmental change, as such, leading to huge costs repairing the damage caused. The findings of the study underpinning this chapter confirm that most developments in the rural areas of Africa are incremental and not guided by any form of planning. Rural houses are typically developed without any standardized template and. Unsurprisingly, the rural dwellers often develop substandard buildings constructed without heeding building standards. Thus, this chapter suggests that planning standards should be prerequisite for the development of sustainable rural settlements in Africa. By extension, there is also need to develop context specific building materials for the construction of durable and affordable housing structures in rural Africa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Demography Settlement and Development, Social & Behavioral Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Innocent Chirisa

  2. Department of Demography Settlement and Development, University of the Free Statel, Bloemfontein, South Africa

    Innocent Chirisa

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  1. Innocent Chirisa
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Chirisa, I. (2021). Zooming Regions into Perspective. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51812-7_132-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51812-7_132-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-51812-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-51812-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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