KNUST Research Week and Scientific Conference: Empowering Researchers to Achieve Impactful Outcomes

Water stress has become an urgent global issue due to rapid population growth, climate change, and urbanization. Sustainable Development Goal 6 underscores that water should be accessible and affordable for all. However, in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa, this is not always the case. Limited access to clean water often leads to waterborne diseases such as typhoid fever and gastrointestinal illnesses, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. This Integrative Review aims to critically analyze various theoretical and conceptual frameworks related to water-positive housing and explore how these can be integrated into a comprehensive framework for designers, researchers, and stakeholders to meet research objective of critically analyzing existing theories and conceptual frameworks related to water-positive housing within the Sub-Saharan African context and recommending a framework to improve water positivism in Sub- Saharan African Housing. The review found that many technical and environmental strategies have been proposed and tested; however, these efforts remain fragmented. Key findings highlight important future research directions and gaps in the current literature, particularly the absence of a context-specific framework that integrates environmental, social, behavioral, and architectural aspects of water use and management. In response, the study proposes an integrated framework to support water-positive housing in Sub-Saharan Africa. This framework is meant for use by architects, planners, policymakers, academics, and other stakeholders to promote sustainable water use and management in the region.