AbstractClimate adaptation planning in pursuit of resilient and sustainable societies has become a focal point in urban policy. Climate adaptation planning is generally regarded as separate from traditional urban planning practices. Globally and in Europe, however, cities are increasingly integrating climate adaptation planning into their traditional urban planning instruments and processes. Recent research indicates that the scope of such integration is at varying stages. The City of Rotterdam (Netherlands) and the City of Antwerp (Belgium) have been identified as two European cities that face similar climate impacts and risks given their proximity to a large river delta. Both cities aim to integrate climate adaptation into their respective urban planning policies, but the scope of their integration differs. This paper critically analyses the urban planning policies of these two cities to distil key lessons learnt that cities with similar climate impacts and approaches to urban planning may potentially face in integrating climate adaptation planning into urban planning policies. The paper finds that identifying and evaluating the synergies, co-benefits or trade-offs of adaptation measures is a key challenge to integrating climate adaptation into urban planning policy. It is a potential stumbling block for long-term sustainable development and climate resilience.
Cities have long been the pioneers of and driving force behind the development and evolution of human societies. The significance of cities as drivers of the sustainable development agenda received its strongest recognition to date with the adoption of, amongst others, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, and the UN Habitat III Declaration (the New Urban Agenda) in 2016. These international policy instruments frame the context in terms of which urban sustainability, or sustainable cities, must be pursued across the globe. Of the many fields of law that are applicable to cities, several scholars and research groups increasingly maintain that planning law and policy has a specific role to play in addressing the challenges that cities face, and in guiding them towards a more sustainable development trajectory. Notably, South Africa's planning law system has recently been transformed by a new planning law framework. In contrast with the pre-1994 legislation, the country's new framework legislation for planning prioritises the transformation of South Africa's cities into more efficient, equal, resilient and sustainable spaces. It also places municipalities at the heart of urban planning and enables them to develop and implement a number of governance instruments that can be used to integrate social, economic, and environmental factors into the development and reshaping of the country's urban areas. While much research pertaining to South Africa's apartheid planning history and its shaping of human settlements and cities has been disseminated over the years, significant research and enquiry remains necessary to better comprehend and apply the country's new planning system. This is particularly true in the context of municipal planning and rapid urbanisation, and the extent of local government's legal responsibilities and authority for planning to promote sustainability in their areas of jurisdiction. The original contribution of this thesis lies in its use of a mixed method research. The approach consists of employing both legal research methodology and qualitative empirical research methodology towards analysing the municipal planning function, both in theory and in practice. The research also provides a detailed inquiry into the understanding of the sustainable city concept, and the scope of local governments' responsibility to promote sustainability through planning. For this purpose, the research critically questions and analyses the extent to which municipal planning law and policy promotes the development of sustainable cities in South Africa. The Gauteng province is employed as the subject of a case study to illustrate the role and function of municipal planning law and policy in promoting the development of sustainable cities in the country's smallest yet most urban province. Specific emphasis is placed on the planning law and policy instruments of three municipalities in the Province, namely the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (a category A municipality); the Emfuleni Local Municipality (a category B municipality); and the Sedibeng District Municipality (a category C municipality). Each of the municipalities, despite their differences in size, faces unique sustainability challenges which include, amongst others, spatial segregation, service backlogs, high levels of poverty and inequality, and conflicting interests in terms of the protection of environmentally sensitive areas and responsible resource use on the one hand and the promotion of economic development on the other. The municipalities also differ in terms of their institutional and financial capacity. While these municipalities do not represent the entire Gauteng province, they do serve as a meaningful lens through which to consider the extent to which municipal planning law and policy currently promote sustainability in varying urban contexts.
This paper critically questions the extent to which the Integrated Urban Development Framework, 2016 (IUDF) provides for strategic goals and policy levers towards the pursuit of sustainable cities in South Africa as understood in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11. Specific emphasis will be placed on the nine identified policy levers2 in the IUDF and whether these correspond with what is identified in SDG 11 as essential for the pursuit and maintenance of sustainable cities. SDG 11 has been heralded as "path-breaking" as it represents the strongest recognition to date of the significant role of cities in promoting sustainability on local, national, and global scales. The goal forms part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development3 adopted in 2015. SDG 11 specifically seeks to ensure that cities and human settlements become inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The goal provides a broad framework for what the achievement sustainable cities entails and lists specific targets to be met by 2030 to ensure urban sustainability around the globe. The South African government recently developed its first policy underscoring the country's national urban agenda. Informed by SDG 11, the IUDF calls for the effective and improved management of urban spaces and recognises the need for South African cities to become "liveable, safe, resource-efficient cities that are socially integrated, economically inclusive and globally competitive".
Socially created vulnerabilities are largely ignored in the hazards and disaster literature because they are so difficult to measure and quantify. Social vulnerability is partially a product of social inequities – those social factors and forces that create the susceptibility of various groups to harm, and in turn affect their ability to respond, and bounce back (resilience) after the disaster. But it is more than that. Social vulnerability involves the basic provision of health care, the liveability of places, overall indicators of quality of life, and accessibility to lifelines (goods, services, emergency response personnel), capital, and political representation ; http://www.unisa.ac.za/Default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=21413 ; http://reference.sabinet.co.za/webx/access/electronic_journals/sapr1/sapr1_v28_n2_a10.pdf
