Abstract

The proposed project is intended to provide an in-depth analysis comparing and contrasting how urban transport impacts health outcomes in urban environments within the African context. The research will explore health-related impacts of transport in two African capitals, Accra and Windhoek.

Accra reflects its heritage as a colonial-era city and Windhoek was originally shaped by its segregationist past. Both cities now continue to evolve, absorbing peri-urban areas into the suburban and urban framework that have exacerbated the dependency on motorized forms of transport. Poor mix of land uses and vehicle dominated access management on roadways in both cities have resulted in walking and cycling being rendered difficult and to be avoided if possible. Poor road network connectivity, traffic management in conjunction with poorly planned land use and sprawling urban form coupled with rapid urbanization has upheld the primacy of the automobile. Additionally, both cities are traversed by relatively high freight traffic flows connecting seaports to other regions of the countries and to neighboring African states.

All of these issues have given rise to adverse impacts on personal safety and security as well as poor health outcomes due to increased exposure to pollution (air and noise), diminished opportunities for physical activity, and generalized stress. These negative outcomes have also disproportionately affected vulnerable groups in both cities including the elderly, disabled, youth, women, and low resource and marginalized populations.

Dr Charles Anum Adams is a distinguished educator, Senior Lecturer, with over 25 years professional practice as a Civil and Transportation Engineer. He is the Programme manager of the Road and Transportation Programme at KNUST and the Lead of the road and Transportation group at the KNUST. He holds a BSc in Civil Engineering, MSc in Transport, DIC from Imperial College/University College, London and a PhD in Civil Engineering with a specialization in Transportation.

He serves as moderator of Civil Engineering Programmes in KAAF University college and Accra Institute of Technology and served as external examiner and assessor on several programmes.

Charles has had stints and has active collaborations in the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), Chennai, India, University of Birmingham and University of New Castle Upon Tyne (United Kingdom), Technical University of Munich and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne where he still maintains active collaborations. He has received fellowships from the British Council ODA, World Bank and DAAD as visiting scholar to Universities in the United Kingdom, India and Germany.

Dr Adams is a visionary leader and recently led a successful team to win a competitive grant from the World Bank to set up the Africa Centre of Excellence (ACE) Regional Transport Research Centre, Kumasi (TRECK). He has worked on several national and regional assignments as consultant for international organizations including the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ now GIZ), the European Union and the World Bank in countries including Uganda, Ghana, Sierra Leone.

DR Adams has expertise in traffic and transportation infrastructure systems planning, design, monitoring and maintenance. He has also contributed extensively to road condition monitoring for the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Parking planning and management in cities in Ghana and served as Technical auditor on transportation projects. He is a sought after conference speaker and participated and organized several national and international conferences on Transportation and Civil engineering.

Ing. Dr Charles Adams is the President Elect of the Ghana Institution of Engineering and an Executive committee member. He is a Fellow of the Ghana Institution of Engineering and a National Councillor. He Chairs the GhIE Technical committee on the Ghana Infrastructure Report Card and the Publications committees.