Climate Justice and Right to Housing in a Flood Prone Territories
How do climate change, social inequality and the right to housing intersect? Who carries the weight of increasingly extreme weather, and who has the means to adapt? This evening, we dive into questions of environmental justice, urban inequality, and design for a climate-resilient future. We’ll explore these global–local connections through the lens of Designing Tomorrow Together, a platform by Studio Akeka, in collaboration with Endeavour, Local Talks, The initiative stimulates dialogue on climate-resilient design from a perspective of social equity, focusing on our shared future.
Intensifying forest fires, floods, landslides and droughts are frequent events. The Netherlands, a long-standing symbol of mastery over water, proves that engineering, technology and wealth can still buy time. Elsewhere, even small shifts in sea level or rainfall already threaten millions. In East Africa, the rainy seasons are growing longer and more destructive. Kampala, Uganda’s fast-growing capital, stands as a striking example. The combination of growing city without sufficient planning and weak infrastructure has turned rainfall into crisis. Wetlands are paved over, drainage channels are blocked, and fragile stormwater systems collapse under the strain. Meanwhile, imported fossil-fuel vehicles from the decarbonizing North add to pollution and congestion. Economic opportunity concentrates in the urban core, pushing low-income families to the flood-prone wetlands along Lake Victoria, where many depend on informal work and are most vulnerable to climate disaster.
Kampala’s geography deepens this divide. The wealthy live safely on the hills; the poor are left to face the water that rushes down into the valleys. Each storm erases livelihoods and spreads disease. What used to be an exceptional weather event has become a frequent reality. Flooding in Uganda is not only an environmental problem; it’s a social one. It’s a question of inequality and environmental justice as much as it is o It reveals how inequality, environmental justice, planning, and climate are interwoven. The struggle over water is also a struggle over justice.
In this session, designers and researchers from Uganda, the Netherlands, and Belgium come together to discuss how climate change reshapes everyday urban life in the Global South and how those realities connect directly to decisions made in the Global North. With a special focus on Bwaise, a densely populated neighborhood in Kampala, we will look at how local communities face, adapt to, and resist the mounting challenges of floods, displacement, and environmental injustice.
Join us for a conversation on how to design for tomorrow together!
