A systematic review on current challenges in and pathways for urban climate and health research in East Africa

Africa is always presented as a focal point of attention for climate research and action to prevent catastrophic health impacts of future climates over the continent. In particular, East Africa is considered a challenging place to adapt to climate changes due to its rapid urbanisation, its population density – amongst the greatest in the world – and for the variety of extreme climates that compose its geographies: for example, the stormy areas around the Great Lakes and the Lake Victoria basin, the savannahs of the high East African Plateau, the tropical forests of the Congo Basin, or the dry and desertic areas of the Turkana Gap. Nevertheless, urban climate research does not appear to be pushing boundaries of current knowledge to inform climate-sensitive designs that will drive the creation of sustainable cities in sub-Saharan Africa.

By reviewing current literature on urban climate and health research in (East) Africa produced until the summer of 2024, we map out what are the most recurrent topics that relate both urban climate research and urban health and where most of the research has been perpetrated. Out of our corpus we extract the key conclusions of past research and try to understand what are the limiting factors that explain the current knowledge gaps in the area. We open our analysis on potential pathways for creating new momentum in urban climate and health research in East Africa. Finally, we discuss how this region could be at the lead current research on urban climate-related health issues by pushing boundaries on topics as varied as vector-borne diseases, extreme heat in tropical areas, flooding, and infectious diseases, among others.