T H E T I M E L I N E Durban was selected as one of December January - August the first 32 cities included in t he Rockefeller Foundation’s Durban’s scoping exercise international 100 Resilient Cities Programme 2013 2014 September Launch 100 RC in Durban
A C I T Y O N T H E E D G E Africa Population Area 3.44 million 2297 sq.km Water provision Inequality 80.7% 0.61 of households have Gini coefficient access to safe drinking water South Africa Employment Housing backlog 74.7% 406 581 Durban Environment 31% of the Municipal area is included in the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System Durban is located in a biodiversity hotspot
THE DURB AN CON TE XT
W H O D I D W E S P E A K T O ?
O U R P R O C E S S Municipal Critical Residents ‘Experts’ Sectors Thinkers What did the What was the What were the Input from critical residents think? expert view? perspectives of thinkers the Municipal sectors?
E N G A G I N G T H E C O N C E P T O F C H A N G E Future/Present New and unpredictable outcomes E xis t ing and ne w driv e rs of change Change G ood Bad GOODS STATUS QUO BADS
Community perspectives snapshot: 230 Representative of demographics and area
E M E R G I N G K E Y T H E M E S The most prevalent themes from the community perspective snapshot
S U M M A R Y • Crime - increasing • Employment (and poverty) – Rapid urbanisation and not enough jobs • Transport – Inefficient and costly • Drugs – Violence and decline in social cohesion • Infrastructure – Positive (e.g. stadium and roads) • Housing – Insufficient housing • *Education – Build skills and capacity to produce economically active citizens • Mindset – A prevailing negative mindset in the citizens of Durban • Acknowledgement of the need to change – we need to do things differently * - cross-cutting issue * A cross-cutting issue
O U T C O M E S F R O M T H E ‘ E X P E R T ’ I N T E R V I E W S
S O C I O - E C O N O M I C Rapid urbanisation - impacts on • service delivery, housing and employment Life-sustaining infrastructure - Water • crisis – need for new approaches Housing shortage - how do we face • informality and develop existing creativity in informal settlements? Public transport - a key resilience issue • in terms of connectivity, equality, social solidarity and increased opportunities Poverty - the growing divide between • rich and poor “Many problems flow from people not being able to think past the need to survive. People cannot think about ‘doing things differently’ until they are out of survival mode.” eThekwini Municipal Official
G O V E R N A N C E C H A L L E N G E S The need for good governance and • trustworthy leadership A growing skills shortage within the • Municipality and the need for forward thinking, mentoring and succession planning Recurrent theme was the • unsustainable tension between a shrinking rates base and a growing demand for services Partnerships and collaboration - • private/public/NGO, also at a regional level “One of the biggest challenges has been the growing distrust of many people at a grassroots level, in governance in general and the governance of the city… We have gone past the dream stage of trusting politicians.” – Civil society representative
E N V I R O N M E N T Climate change - an important reality • for Durban Digout port - polar view: negative • environmental and social impacts but potentially positive economic impacts Water quantity and quality – concerns • will limit existing and future development opportunities “We are already experiencing the effects of climate change… but I predict that the greatest changes will not be climate-related but land-use related and these will be felt most strongly by Durban’s population.” - Academic
I N P U T S F R O M M U N I C I P A L S E C T O R E N G A G E M E N T
K E Y I D E A S • Build human resourcefulness • Political gatekeepers who control access to resources and build dependence on government • Infrastructure as a foundational element • Strengthening the role of communities in building resilience • The need to build champions to lead the resilience process “People must realise that they have it in themselves to create a different environment, a different city. It’s perhaps one of the key areas that we have to address because if we can unlock that resourcefulness, then the ideas are going to flow. “ – Municipal official
I N P U T S F R O M C R I T I C A L T H I N K E R S
K E Y I N P U T S • Durban is a ‘city in crisis’ or a ‘city on the edge’ – we don’t have the basic building blocks of our society in place/unfullfilled societal needs • How do we rebuild the ‘societal fabric’ that allows us to stand together in the face of change? • The need for brave and visionary leadership willing to try new things and learn from failure • Strategic opportunitie s in: - Building leadership capacity to deal with unpredictability - The water/biodiversity link - Accessible and environmentally sustainable transport - Address and eliminate inequality
K E Y I N P U T S The role of a stable and capacitated local government administration in leading • key processes Building a broad-based understanding of resilience challenges through simple , • engaging and accessible forms of communication We can’t tackle everything – what gives us most leverage? •
O U R E M E R G I N G U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F R E S I L I E N C E EMERGING UNDERSTANDING OF RESILIENCE
O U R E M E R G I N G U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F R E S I L I E N C E Partner- ships Water Human Efficient Wellbeing Transport Livelihood Social Cohesion Employment Ecological Integrity Equality Strong Leadership There are Basic Needs many potential contributing factors to the state of resilience.
O U R E M E R G I N G U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F R E S I L I E N C E New York DISASTER RISK Partner- ships Water Dakar Human Efficient Wellbeing Transport INFRASTRUCTURE Livelihood Social Cohesion Employment Ecological Durban LEADERSHIP Integrity Equality Strong Leadership ECONOMIC Basic DEVELPOMENT There are many Needs points of entry if we are going to build Surat increased resilience
O U R E M E R G I N G U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F R E S I L I E N C E Durban LEADERSHIP Inter-linkages will result in streams of action
O U R E M E R G I N G U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F R E S I L I E N C E Reduced environmental Impact TRANSPORT Reducing inequality & segregation Building social cohesion Strengthening the economy by reducing costs and travel Durban LEADERSHIP time Providing access to opportunities & employment Inter-linkages will result in streams of action
O U R E M E R G I N G U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F R E S I L I E N C E Durban LEADERSHIP Risk reduction eg. floodwater attenuation Sequestering carbon Job creation & the green economy Water provision Inter-linkages ECOLOGICAL New partnerships will result in streams HEALTH for management of action
O U R E M E R G I N G U N D E R S T A N D I N G O F R E S I L I E N C E TRANSPORT - Reduced spatial footprint Durban LEADERSHIP - More cost effective - Additional space and resources can be invested in our natural capital - more sustainable rate of return Inter-linkages ECOLOGICAL will result in streams HEALTH of action
W H A T M I G H T R E S I L I E N C E M E A N F O R D U R B A N ?
L O C A L L Y R E L E V A N T • We need to develop a locally relevant understanding of resilience • Ensure that our resilience journey is an iterative and reflective one COLLAPSE • Need to be prepared to respond to a spectrum of change : good/bad; short- term/long-term ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????
A B R O A D E R J O U R N E Y Resilience as a part of a broader journey towards transformation T r a n s i t i o n T r a n s i t i o n T r a n s i t i o n COLLAPSE RESISTANCE RESILIENCE: TRANSFORMATION: Preserving, restoring System entirely or improving replaced – can be systems small and local or widespread N e g a t i v e P a t h w a y s P o s i t i v e Source: Solecki, Dorsch and Pelling (in press)
T h e 1 0 0 R C T E A M - D U R B A N
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
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