Scaling nature-based solutions for climate resilient infrastructure

Role:Co-I in Sierra Leone
Project: Imperial-SLURC Learning Alliance
Affiliation:Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9106-1516
Email: macarthy@slurc.org

Joseph M. Macarthy is a leading urban research expert and well-established scholar in urban development and planning in Sierra Leone. He is the Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC). Joseph holds a PhD in Urban Planning and Management from Newcastle University (UK) and previously lectured at Njala University, bridging community development problems with academia. At SLURC, Joseph leads several research projects spanning land and housing, climate change, transport and mobility, energy and urban health. As part of SLURC’s commitment to ensuring sustainable land management practices to mitigate flood and heat stress, Joseph actively engaged in the recent FLOURISH engagement in Freetown to evaluate the effectiveness of green infrastructure innovations in informal and peri-urban areas, addressing both current and future challenges.

He has also served as urban planner in several EU, World Bank and AfDB projects in Sierra Leone. These include the preparation of the Lungi Spatial Development Plan, Spatial Plan preparation for six secondary cities in Sierra Leone, flood risk management for eight cities in Sierra Leone, and the preparation of the Urban Diagnostic Report which provided perspectives on Sierra Leone to the EU’s ACP Development Cooperation. Joseph is broadly published. He has strong networks among local and international urban development scholars and with municipal and national governments in Sierra Leone.