The accelerating pace of urbanization, coupled with changes in land-use patterns and the exacerbation of extreme climatic events—marked by heightened unpredictability and severity, particularly in regions of the Global South—necessitates a thorough reevaluation of urban governance and management frameworks. In response to these challenges, it is essential for strategies to integrate local socio-economic specificities while navigating the inherent complexities of these issues, leveraging contextually appropriate resources within a sustainability paradigm. In this regard, contextualizing and incorporating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into urban planning frameworks is crucial for advancing urban sustainability. However, significant obstacles hinder their effective integration at the urban scale, particularly in fast-evolving, resource-constrained settings. This study seeks to address this critical gap by systematically examining the barriers to SDG integration in urban planning within sub-Saharan Africa. For this purpose, Moundou, Chad, is used as a representative case study, reflecting both the challenges and opportunities of urban sustainability in the region. A hybrid methodology underpins this research, combining in-depth interviews with key development stakeholders, a detailed review of strategic documents aligned with the SDGs, and semi-structured questionnaires to capture diverse perspectives. The results reveal that the institutional dimension constitutes 38.46% of the barriers identified by stakeholders, with key challenges including limited capacity for long-term planning, a lack of expertise, and inadequate multisectoral coordination, among others. In addition, the economic and socio-cultural dimensions each represent 23.08% of the identified barriers, encompassing issues such as dependence on external funding, the high cost of green technologies, low public awareness, and resistance to change within communities. Finally, the data access dimension ranks last, accounting for 15.38%. To overcome these challenges, it is essential to implement mechanisms that strengthen institutional capacities, promote cross-sectoral collaboration, enhance public awareness, and cultivate a culture of adaptability and innovation within local communities. Furthermore, improving data accessibility and reinforcing financial mechanisms are vital to addressing these barriers comprehensively.

Climate change has become a serious threat to human life. This study aims to reveal the face of climate policies and the integration of urban adaptation into urban planning policies in the city of N’Djaména. To achieve this, we adopted a methodology combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Surveys of key informants were used to gather information on how to achieve the objectives set. The results show that key informants believe that climate policies have not met the expectations of the city’s citizens in terms of effectiveness and positive impacts. These players assume that urban policy planning does not take urban adaptation into account. The four categories of barriers hindering the integration of urban adaptation and its implementation relate to a lack of information and knowledge, political ill will, and organization and constraints linked to the mobilization and availability of resources. This study suggests the sharing of information, knowledge, and communication involving all stakeholders in N’Djaména’s urban development, the organization of the city’s state and municipal structures, the involvement and support of political authorities, greater access to financing, and the establishment of professional networks of expertise as catalysts for success.

Climate change and its corollaries suggest that urban planning tools and strategies need to integrate adaptation and resilience approaches into urban development. This study aims to inform decision makers and the scientific community of the importance of appropriating data on urban adaptation and resilience strategies in the city of N’Djaména. After sampling 519 city dwellers, oriented questionnaires and focus groups were used to collect socio-demographic parameters, major climate risks, their impacts on urban issues and the urban resilience strategies employed. The various exposure and impact indices were used to identify and prioritize climate risks and urban exposure issues with the populations concerned. The study highlighted three major climatic hazards, namely, flooding, heat waves and strong winds, and their impact on social and community facilities, the living environment and human health. Ten vulnerability factors have been identified, of which the intrinsically geophysical factors are most familiar to the city’s population. The principal component analysis (PCA) illustrates ten (10) strategies for adaptation and resilience to urban climate risks. To meet the climatic challenges in urban areas, this study makes several short-, medium- and long-term recommendations to decision makers.

Climate variability and change are already having a negative impact on the health of tens of millions of Africans through exposure to sub-optimal temperatures and extreme weather conditions as well as increasing the range and transmission of infectious diseases. This study aims to identify climate risks and the vulnerability of health systems as well as individual coping strategies in the city of N’Djaména. To achieve this, we adopted a methodology combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Meteorological data on wind, temperature, and rainfall were collected at daily and monthly intervals from the National Meteorological Agency in N’Djaména. Qualitative data were collected via focus group discussions with targets of the city’s health system and quantitative data were collected from the population on the basis of oriented questionnaires. The results show that rising temperatures with heat waves, regular flooding, and strong winds are the major climate risks identified. These have numerous impacts and effects on the city’s health system due to the following vulnerability factors most recognized by city dwellers: insufficient medical equipment in health facilities (IEME), the fragile nature of people’s physiological state in the face of climatic risks (CFEP), and the failure of city sanitation strategies and policies (DSPA). This study proposes a set of recommendations for transformational adaptation of the healthcare sector, which remains vulnerable to climate risks.

Over the last two decades, scientific studies have increasingly highlighted the vulnerability of cities to global changes, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where climate phenomena and urbanization are intensifying. These realities necessitate a reassessment of current urban management models in order to reaffirm the central role of cities in promoting sustainability. In this context, establishing a robust scientific foundation for evaluating the transition processes of cities towards sustainability is essential. This article presents a methodology developed to select and validate indicators, taking into account local issues and the needs expressed by stakeholders. The research was conducted using a mixed-methods approach, which included a literature review, consultations with populations from five study districts, analysis of the indicator needs of development stakeholders, adoption of two methods, and validation of the indicators by a group of experts. The outcome of this research is a set of 20 indicators organized into five dimensions: environmental, social, economic, built environment, and cultural. The analysis of the proportional distribution of these indicators across dimensions reveals a notable predominance of the social dimension, which accounts for 35% of the indicators, including key indicators such as access to potable water, electricity, education, and healthcare services, inter alia. The environmental and built environment dimensions each comprise 20% of the indicators, encompassing indicators such as the preservation of natural resources, waste management, land use management, and flood management, among others. The economic and cultural dimensions represent 15% and 10% of the selected indicators, respectively. These data indicate that achieving sustainable urban development within the context of this study requires a focused effort on enhancing the performance of these indicators, with substantial efforts needed in the social domain. It is of paramount importance to incorporate these indicators into the decision-making processes related to urban development planning in Moundou and other cities in the region, as they provide valuable scientific insights crucial to the pursuit of sustainability.

Foumbot, an important agricultural hub in Central Africa, faces many challenges linked to its rapid urban growth. This study aims to analyze the determinants of Foumbot's spatiotemporal dynamics between 1990 and 2020. The methodology used focuses on the analysis of Landsat satellite images and socioeconomic data, as well as documentary analysis, direct observation, and interviews with key informants. The results reveal that the built-up area increased from 138.19 hectares (ha) in 1990 to 671.31 ha in 2020, an almost fourfold increase. In contrast, water bodies, bare land, and vegetation have decreased significantly, from 430.58 ha, 342.07 ha, and 184.81 ha in 1990 to 116.86 ha, 143.78 ha, and 163.69 ha in 2020, respectively. These spatial and temporal changes, which underline the influence of urbanization on the natural environment, were mainly driven by factors such as population growth, the crisis in the coffee economy and the boom in food crops during the 1990s, and the city's administrative and commercial functions. This spatial dynamic increases pressure on natural resources. Consequently, integrating environmental issues into sustainable urban planning policies is crucial to reconciling urbanization with environmental preservation and promoting a sustainable transition in land use.