ADAPTING URBAN POLICIES TO SOCIO-POLITICAL CHALLENGES: ACTORS, MODELS, AND PRACTICES IN FREETOWN

This paper examines urbanization challenges within the context of contemporary socio-political issues. It uses the implementation of an internationally recognized multi-stakeholder partnership model for the development of Freetown, Sierra Leone, as a case study. Numerous challenges are compelling rapidly growing cities in African states to develop diverse adaptive practices. This study examines official documents, scholarly literature, and media sources to identify key actors, their interactions, roles in implementing the 2018–2024 urban transformation strategy, and its main instruments. The paper describes the network organizational model that the city's new leadership implemented to secure funding, integrate local communities into development processes, and mitigate the risks of socio-political destabilization. It demonstrates that the administration has prioritized certain challenges the city faces, primarily climate threats, to facilitate communication patterns with external actors (i.e. international organizations and development agencies), integrate the city into international networks, and promote its international brand. The study concludes that the city's development strategy is hindered by local power struggles between national structures and the municipality, which limits the latter's power and resources, and the challenges' complexity. The paper suggests that aspects of the Freetown model may be relevant for urban governance in Russia and other BRICS nations.