Strategic environmental assessment of development corridors: The case of the Northern Economic Corridor in East Africa

IF 4.7 2区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental Development Pub Date : 2024-09-29 DOI:10.1016/j.envdev.2024.101081

Amani G. Rweyendela

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Development corridors are spreading worldwide, creating both opportunities for economic growth and environmental risks. Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) offers a potential framework for planning more sustainable corridors. However, research on SEA application and effectiveness in corridor planning is scarce, particularly in Africa. This case study assessed the procedural effectiveness of two SEAs for the master plan of the Northern Economic Corridor in East Africa. Data were collected from the SEA reports and analyzed using document analysis guided by best practice, strategic criteria derived from the literature. Results show the SEAs had limited procedural effectiveness, focusing on impact prediction and mitigation rather than developing a sustainability strategy. The case study offers valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities of implementing SEA in complex development corridors. The paper makes policy recommendations for more strategic assessments, towards the establishment of more robust SEA systems and more successful corridor investments in Africa and beyond.

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发展走廊的战略环境评估：东非北部经济走廊案例

发展走廊正在全球蔓延，既为经济增长创造了机遇，也带来了环境风险。战略环境评估（SEA）为规划更具可持续性的走廊提供了一个潜在框架。然而，有关 SEA 在走廊规划中的应用和有效性的研究却很少，尤其是在非洲。本案例研究对东非北部经济走廊总体规划的两次 SEA 的程序有效性进行了评估。从 SEA 报告中收集了数据，并在最佳实践和文献中得出的战略标准的指导下，使用文件分析法对数据进行了分析。结果表明，这些 SEA 在程序上的有效性有限，重点在于影响预测和缓解，而不是制定可持续发展战略。该案例研究为在复杂的发展走廊中实施 SEA 所面临的挑战和机遇提供了宝贵的见解。本文就更具战略性的评估提出了政策建议，以期在非洲及其他地区建立更健全的 SEA 系统和更成功的走廊投资。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Environmental Development Social Sciences-Geography, Planning and Development

CiteScore

8.40

自引率

1.90%

发文量

审稿时长

74 days

期刊介绍： Environmental Development provides a future oriented, pro-active, authoritative source of information and learning for researchers, postgraduate students, policymakers, and managers, and bridges the gap between fundamental research and the application in management and policy practices. It stimulates the exchange and coupling of traditional scientific knowledge on the environment, with the experiential knowledge among decision makers and other stakeholders and also connects natural sciences and social and behavioral sciences. Environmental Development includes and promotes scientific work from the non-western world, and also strengthens the collaboration between the developed and developing world. Further it links environmental research to broader issues of economic and social-cultural developments, and is intended to shorten the delays between research and publication, while ensuring thorough peer review. Environmental Development also creates a forum for transnational communication, discussion and global action. Environmental Development is open to a broad range of disciplines and authors. The journal welcomes, in particular, contributions from a younger generation of researchers, and papers expanding the frontiers of environmental sciences, pointing at new directions and innovative answers. All submissions to Environmental Development are reviewed using the general criteria of quality, originality, precision, importance of topic and insights, clarity of exposition, which are in keeping with the journal''s aims and scope.