Navigating Urban Riskscapes

Abstract

As cities in the Global South encounter increasingly complex urban landscapes shaped by environmental, socio-political, infrastructural, and health-related risks, governance challenges intensify. This thesis critically investigates the interaction between everyday risks and governance mechanisms in Monrovia, Liberia—a post-conflict city confronting critical issues such as flooding, housing insecurity, crime, violence, and insufficient access to essential services like clean water and electricity. Monrovia’s unique socio-political history, marked by post-conflict reconstruction, heightens the city’s exposure to urban risks and governance challenges. This makes it an ideal case for exploring how formal and informal governance structures respond to the complexities of urban risks and challenges, such as flooding, crime, and infrastructural deficits. <br /> The research is organised around four core objectives. First, it explores the interactions between spatial configurations, urban risks, and the governance challenges in Monrovia’s complex urban environment. Second, it examines informal settlements, such as slums, as key governance objects, assessing the governance tools developed to address these spaces. Third, the study investigates how individuals and communities navigate resource-constrained environments, where incomplete infrastructure and unreliable services present daily challenges. Fourth, it analyses the adaptive strategies employed by governance actors, focusing on how they balance formal planning with improvisational problem-solving in response to urban risks challenges. <br /> Drawing on qualitative methods, the study integrates theoretical frameworks like 'riskscapes'—the spatial-temporal dimensions of risks shaped by human and institutional actions—and 'evolutionary governance,' a framework that explores how governance structures adapt over time. Fieldwork conducted in four distinct communities—West Point, Peace Island, Clara Town, and Barnesville—offers a comprehensive view of how urban risks shape, and are shaped by, governance processes. The research reveals a non-linear process of development in which governance, infrastructure, and risks co-evolve, providing key insights into the dynamics of resource-constrained, post-conflict urban settings. <br /> This thesis makes several key contributions to urban governance theory. First, it advances the understanding of how subjective perceptions of risk and objective risk assessments influence governance strategies, particularly in spaces where formal state presence is minimal. It highlights the tension between formal governance mechanisms and the organic, often informal, development of urban spaces, shedding light on phenomena like tolerated informality and the risk perception paradox. Second, the study integrates the concepts of riskscapes and object formation, demonstrating how particular spaces in Monrovia emerge as 'risk objects' that demand governance attention. This integration illustrates the fluidity and multiplicity of governance objects within urban risk landscapes, offering a fine-grained understanding of how risks are governed in dynamic environments. Third, the research reframes infrastructural incompleteness as a catalyst for governance innovation. Rather than viewing infrastructure in binary terms of functioning or non-functioning, the study presents a continuum of infrastructural functionality that reveals how communities and governance actors adapt and innovate in the face of infrastructural deficits. <br /> Finally, the thesis contributes to evolutionary governance theory by exploring how formal planning and informal 'searching' strategies coalesce to shape urban systems. This perspective enriches the understanding of urban development in resource-constrained environments by highlighting the dynamic interplay between governance structures and emergent community practices. By positioning Monrovia as a microcosm of broader urban dynamics in the Global South, the thesis advocates for an integrated approach to urban resilience that merges risk reduction, infrastructure development, and adaptive governance strategies. The findings provide valuable insights for urban planners, policymakers, and researchers, underscoring the need for governance systems that are flexible and responsive to the evolving challenges of post-conflict urban environments.