Abstract
Since the Kyoto Protocol came into effect, planning for climate and carbon friendly cities is one of the most pressing challenges for developing countries. As developing countries get integrated into the international carbon control regime, there has been little attention on city connections to global environmental change and even as the momentum gains in developing countries, the level of success has only been achieved in cities of the developed world. This paper asks three questions; can the same level of success be achieved in the Kampala City region?, how can the city of Kampala respond to international calls for the reduction of carbon from transportation and urban development patterns and, how can the carbon footprint of the city of Kampala be used as a lever for an economically viable, ecologically sound and socially acceptable planning system for the city region? Results indicate that the Kampala City region has spread and continues to spread horizontally over a relatively large area and with it an increase in the vehicle kilometers traveled. The associated carbon and climatic impacts are yet to be fully understood but there is no strong and clear carbon management regime and climate friendly planning system. The city authority is well aware of the enormous task confronting it and is actively working in partnership with other stakeholders to influence carbon stocks and the urban climate. Even as strategic opportunities exist to direct the present haphazard growth of Kampala City region towards a climatically sensitive urban development pattern and transportation system, the challenges reflects largely an interplay of institutional failure, political interference, economic marginalization and social factors. One can observe that there is a “mainstreaming overload” as the city authority tries to integrate and satisfy long-term conflicting goals of development together with other immediate needs facing city residents in its overall development strategies.
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