A turning point in bringing energy to urban informal settlements

Over the last decade, cities have emerged as hubs of innovation, driving transformative sustainable urban development, inspired by critical problem-solving approaches on persistent issues of service delivery such as water, sanitation and electricity. Interestingly, these innovations are not occurring spatially at the centres of urban spaces but instead on the peripheries of urban settlements.

For example, some women-led community groups are the pioneers in improved access to energy, water, and sanitation through locally-mobilised savings and solidarity groups. With the limited access to energy infrastructure, alternative approaches have emerged to bridge the service provision gap. What is lacking is the data and the capacity required to scale up these innovations to similar settlements.

Historically, the relations between City authorities and informal settlements have been conflicting, often brought to the fore during eviction exercises. However, the UN-Habitat III New Urban Agenda has created the enabling environment to foster slum integration in urban policies and programs, thus creating an impetus for renewed engagements with informal communities excluded from the statutory urban development.

The data required to understand informal urban settlements are still lacking. Hence, building the human resource capacity of city officials in areas such as energy access data collection, project design, and project implementation, focusing on informal urban settlements is necessary. This presents an opportunity to unlock knowledge that can inform individuals’ professional insights, enhance organisational know-how, and transform service delivery beyond the immediate energy access goal.