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In two informal settlements in Johannesburg, South Africa, stormwater drainage interventions were investigated and compared. In the case of Elias Motsoaledi settlement, the intervention was state-led; in Slovo Park settlement it involved community-based initiatives. Both settlements are vulnerable to runoff-related disturbances. State-led stormwater management interventions in informal settlements are embedded in a context that can create various concerns and contradictions, participatory challenges, and political influence. Community-initiated approaches can also have limitations and coping strategies can be minimally effective. The state's central role is clear from both cases and it highlights the need for integration between the state-led and communitarian approaches towards co-producing meaningful drainage and infrastructural intervention in informal settlements.

Green infrastructure plays a critical role in environmentally sustainable urbanization in developing countries. Based on a review of academic outputs, this paper explores green infrastructure in the context of informal urban settlements. It identifies three ways informal settlements are connected to green spaces and natural ecosystems functioning as urban green infrastructure and then shows examples of benefits derived (ecosystem services) by the urban poor from these connections. Undesirable aspects and negative outcomes, regarded as ecosystem disservices, from the connection to natural ecosystems are also pointed out. The potentials of enhancing ecosystem services in terms of improving quality of life and the environment in informal settlements came to the fore. This work contributes to the growing body of knowledge on urban green infrastructure from the perspective of informal settlements in developing countries.

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This study assessed thermal conditions in and around two typical buildings on a university campus in Akure, Nigeria. One of the buildings was shaded by trees, while the other was unshaded. The aim is to evaluate the effect of vegetation (tree shading) on indoor and outdoor thermal comfort. Air temperature and relative humidity were measured simultaneously inside and outside both buildings for six months (September 2010 to February 2011). Results show that the unshaded building is generally less comfortable in comparison with the tree-shaded one, especially during the daytime. The unshaded building becomes less comfortable as early as 10:00 h during the dry season, and that can even extend till around 18:00 h during the wet season. Also, the outdoor area around the tree-shaded building is more thermally comfortable than around the unshaded one, irrespective of the season. A strong relationship between outdoor and indoor comfort conditions, irrespective of seasonal or diurnal variations and thermal comfort index, also emerged. While the positive role of tree shading in thermal comfort is not new, this study contributes additional evidence from an understudied sub-Saharan African region like Nigeria. It points to the need for tree planting (greening) as a means to improve thermal comfort in Nigerian cities.