Environmental Disruptions and Migrant (Im)mobilities in Urban Africa

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This research will investigate the relationship between urban flooding and (im)mobility through an ethnographic study of migrants' everyday lives in Kampala. Anthropogenic climate change, limited state investment, deficient spatial planning and migration are four of myriad factors placing increased pressure on urban infrastructure-particularly in urban Africa (Parnell and Walawege 2011). UN projections suggest Kampala will be the world's second fastest growing city from 2025-2030 (Hobson and Kathage 2017). A key development challenge Kampala faces, and one of its greatest environmental concerns, is flooding (Lwasa 2010). Though data suggests 72% of refugees living in Kampala are exposed to flooding, almost nothing is known of how this impacts their everyday lives (AGORA 2018). Accordingly, research is needed on how historically marginalised 'communities', such as migrants, will sustain livelihoods in the face of socio-ecological inequality. Research has shown it is appropriate to centre the impacts of environmental factors on migrants and refugees due to issues of race, ethnicity, precarious legal status and economic insecurity - all of which are exacerbated during 'disasters' (Shewly 2016).