ALPhA
The Informal Appropriation of Public Space for Leisure Physical Activity in Lagos and Yaoundé
The ALPhA study explores ways that public space is being used for physical activity (exercise) in Lagos, Nigeria and Yaoundé, Cameroon. Over 2 years, the project aims to understand the types of ALPhA spaces that exist, the experiences of people who use these ALPhA spaces, and air pollution, safety and injury risks. The interdisciplinary team members come from across several fields including urban planning, public health, chemistry, engineering… and YOU (see below for how to join the team)!
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Africa is experiencing rapid urbanisation alongside poorly governed infrastructure development and increasing unhealthy living. These factors contribute to an increased burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like obesity, diabetes and heart disease. These NCDs also contribute to premature death disproportionately affecting the economically active and jeopardising development. The built environment is a critical determinant of physical activity, a risk factor for NCDs, but due to unmet need for the necessary infrastructure for exercise, public spaces in African cities are increasingly informally used for exercise, sometimes under hazardous conditions such as toxic air pollution. As a result of a lack of surveillance data, the health risks of exercise in public spaces are unknown.
Methods
The study, being conducted in Lagos and Yaoundé, works at the interface of public health, urban infrastructure, urban planning, environmental engineering, and atmospheric science.
Using participatory approaches, we are investigating exercise in public space to re-imagine urban space for healthy, safe exercise in Lagos, Nigeria and Yaoundé, Cameroon, countries with similar demographic and NCD risk profile.
We take an asset-based approach, learning from people who are claiming public space for exercise (we call these ALPhA spaces), to understand the experiences of the people that use these spaces (ALPhAs!), and to measure the injury risk and air pollution exposures which may cancel out exercise benefits. Engaging with multisectoral actors, results from this study will inform urban infrastructure development strategies and the co-design of public space interventions that support equitable access to healthy safe physical activity opportunities in Africa’s cities.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we extended this project to conduct opinion analyses of public space leisure physical activity in Lagos. In particular, using social media analyses, we will explore public perceptions of government lockdown restrictions (and enforcement), and the impact of these lockdown measures on the perceptions, nature and frequency of exercise in public spaces. Our findings will inform development of context-aware public health messaging that safely encourages physical activity in the short term and health foresight interventions to reduce vulnerability to future health emergencies long-term.
Want to get involved?
Join us as a citizen scientist to re-imagine urban space
Do you live in Lagos or Yaoundé?
And have you noticed people exercising in public spaces near you?
Or do you exercise in public spaces?
Then you can join us as a citizen scientist to re-imagine urban space for healthy, safe exercise.
Whether you exercise in public spaces or have just observed people exercising or have even just noticed any public spaces that you think would be a good spot for exercise, we are inviting the public to work with us to identify as many of these ALPhA public spaces used for exercise as possible (e.g. aerobics, football, walking, jogging, cycling, etc.) in Lagos and Yaoundé. This includes public spaces like road intersections, open streets, below bridges, car parks, sidewalks, etc.
Here’s how you can participate as a citizen scientist:
FIRSTLY, access the survey. You can do this by either:
A. DOWNLOADING THE APP
(This option is recommended as this allows you to save your incomplete entries to complete later):
1. Download the EpiCollect5 app from Google play or the App Store
2. Sign in using your google account
3. Click “+ Add Project” and search for “Lagos ALPhA” or “Yaoundé ALPhA”
4. Click the relevant study for your city. The options are:
- Lagos ALPhA study on Public Space Exercise
- Yaoundé ALPhA study on Public Space Exercise (English)
- Yaoundé ALPhA study on Public Space Exercise Fr (French)
OR
B. USING THE SURVEY LINKS DIRECTLY
(Please note for this option, you will need to complete the survey in one go (about 20 mins) as you won’t be able to save until the end).
- If you prefer not to download the app, simply click the relevant link below:
2. Sign in using your google account.
SECONDLY, once you have access, you can complete the survey to tell us about the ALPhA space and the type of exercise that usually happens there.
Please note: If you CAN’T be at the location when you complete the survey (so unable to take a photo or record GPS coordinates), you also have the option to simply describe the location.
**ATTENTION ALL ALPhAs**
If you indicated in the survey that you do exercise in public space, we invite you to take part in a further survey to tell us more about your experiences using the “ALPhA user REDCap survey” (link pending).
Your responses will help us make recommendations on making public spaces healthier and safer for all.
We’ll keep you updated:
Follow us on Twitter:
Read the team’s commentary on physical activity under COVID lockdown in Lagos:
Funder 01
Funder 02
Partners
Project outputs
The urban environment and leisure physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic: a view from Lagos
In this commentary, we highlight five aspects of the ordinary – known interactions between urban environments and physical activity – that are amplified by the extraordinary – an unprecedented societal response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Using Lagos, Nigeria as a case study, we illustrate the possibility of re-thinking urban development and the potential for urban (re)form to address health inequalities in African megacities in the context of post-COVID-19 pandemic.
Other UrbanBetter projects you might be interested in…
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Our work involves finding solutions that are affordable and created in partnership with local communities. GDAR builds on the expertise and knowledge of research in Cameroon, the Caribbean, Kenya, South Africa and the UK.
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UrbanBetter project outputs
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“The greatest threat to positive societal reset is not the challenges of the present but a stagnant mindset of impossibility”.
Integrating health in human settlements
Health through human settlements: Investigating policymakers’ perceptions of human settlement action for population health improvement in urban South Africa.
The urban environment and leisure physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic: a view from Lagos
In this commentary, we highlight five aspects of the ordinary – known interactions between urban environments and physical activity – that are amplified by the extraordinary – an unprecedented societal response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Using Lagos, Nigeria as a case study, we illustrate the possibility of re-thinking urban development and the potential for urban (re)form to address health inequalities in African megacities in the context of post-COVID-19 pandemic.
A participatory approach to building a coalition of health and planning sector urban actors in Africa-a Douala case-study
Developing a participatory approach to building a coalition of transdisciplinary actors for healthy urban planning in African cities – a case study of Douala, Cameroon
Integrating health into human settlements policy (LIRA study)
Using Cape Town, South Africa, and Douala, Cameroon, as case studies, this LIRA project (2018–2020), led by Tolullah Oni, seeks to develop a practical health and housing-integrated collaboration model that will improve urban policymaking and governance for the planning of African cities. The project brings together academic and non-academic stakeholders representing a range of expertise: public health, health geography, urban planning, and demography. The project contributes to SDG 3 and SDG 11.
A Systematised Review of the Health Impact of Urban Informal Settlements and Implications for Upgrading Interventions in South Africa, a Rapidly Urbanising Middle-Income Country
Informal settlements are becoming more entrenched within African cities as the urban population continues to grow. Characterised by poor housing conditions and inadequate services, informal settlements are associated with an increased risk of disease and ill-health. However, little is known about how informal settlement upgrading impacts health over time. A systematised literature review was conducted to explore existing evidence and knowledge gaps on the association between informal settlement characteristics and health and the impact of informal settlement upgrading on health, within South Africa, an upper-middle-income African country.
