Providing Sustainable Heat Solutions to Urban Informal Settlements

With climate change increasing the heat island effect in cities, informal settlements are vulnerable both to extreme heat and urban policies such as resettlement and reconstruction. The speakers in this panel approached the problem from different perspectives – sociology, engineering, and public administration –  to better understand how we can ensure viable, scalable, and sustainable solutions to urban heat island effects in informal settlements of the Global South.

Speakers

Sheela Patel

Founder and Director of the Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC), Mumbai, and Founding Member, Slum Dwellers International (SDI)

Sheela is the founder and director of the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC) India, which is based in Mumbai, and works in partnership with the National Slum Dweller Federation and Mahila Milan. SPARC is an NGO that has been working since 1984 to support community organisations of the urban poor in their efforts to access secure housing and basic amenities and seek their right to the city.

Patel is widely recognised – nationally and internationally – for seeking urgent attention to the issues of urban poverty, housing and infrastructure onto the radar of governments, bilateral and international agencies, foundations and other organizations. She is a founder, among many, of Slum Dwellers International, a transnational social movement of the urban poor, whose board she previously chaired.

Manuel A. Alculete Lopes de Araújo, PhD. 

Hon. Mayor of Quelimane, Mozambique 

Manuel A. Alculete Lopes de Araújo has been the Mayor of Quelimane since 2011. Mr. de Araújo’s extensive experience spans civil society, academics, business and politics, and is deeply involved in advocate for issues linked to urban and climate change. He plays a key role within institutions such as UCLG as well as ICLEI, where he is a member of the Global Executive Committee and Global Co-Chair for Resilience. In 2019, Araújo was elected Deputy Chair of the National Council of the Mozambican Mayors Association (ANAMM) Congress. Araújo holds a PhD from the University of East Anglia, and an MSc from SOAS, University of London. 

Prof. Eugenie Birch

Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research and Education, Department of City and Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design and Co-Director, Penn Institute for Urban Research, University of Pennsylvania

Eugénie L. Birch is the Lawrence C. Nussdorf Chair of Urban Research and Education. She teaches courses in global urbanization and the doctoral seminar and serves as chair, Graduate Group in City and Regional Planning, co-director, Penn Institute for Urban Research, co-editor, City in the 21st Century Series, University of Penn Press and co-editor, SSRN Urban Research e-journal. With Penn IUR she recently completed a project “Entreprenuership & Innovation in Connecticut’s Higher Education System,” for the state of Connecticut.

Moderator

Sam Geldin, Ph.D

Sam Geldin is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Penn Institute for Urban Research whose work specializes in climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and urban land use planning and policy in South and Southeast Asia. He is trained as an urban planner and environmental social scientist with 11 years of professional experience supporting subnational climate action efforts of institutions such as the UNFCCC Secretariat, UNEP, World Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, and California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. Geldin also leads the early-stage nonprofit Climatepedia, dedicated to building climate literacy and action among working professionals worldwide.

The "Conversations on Informality" Seminar Series of the Penn IUR Forum on Urban Informality bring together leading scholars and practitioners for an exchange across academic disciplines and in policy.